Ice Age: Roshan's Return
by MusicRocks807
Summary: So basically I sort of wondered what would happen if Roshan came back (better summary inside), and I really love the whole DiegoxShira thing so I thought I'd combine them. Rated T coz there's some kinda scary bits and plus I'm a scaredy-cat.
1. Introduction

Ice Age: Roshan's Return

**This is my first fanfic so please be nice with reviews. I just got curious about what would happen if the baby from the first movie came back as a hunter. I thought he would remember Manny, Sid and Diego, but he wouldn't actually know the rest of the herd. And yes, the humans and animals can talk to each-other because it's a fanfic.**

Roshan stood at the top of a huge boulder, staring out at the world before him. He was trying to spot the animals. "Not many, is there?" asked his best hunter, Kunta. Roshan jumped."Kunta, you scared me." "A brave warrior like you? Afraid?" Kunta laughed scornfully. Roshan rolled his eyes and continued to look for animals. "How can there be such a little amount animals on this island?" growled Roshan "I need new pelts! Rowan and Kisi are getting cold, it's almost winter!" Kunta nodded his agreement. Then, something caught his eye. "There! By that large tree!" he shouted, pointing at a snow-white sabre-toothed tiger with black stripes "It's all alone, doesn't even have a pack!" "Let's get it!" exclaimed Roshan "I'll tell the others!" Roshan ran down the boulder and back to the camp.

Sitting on an old rug, Rowan cradled her daughter Kisi to her chest. "Rowan! Rowan!" called Roshan, running towards her "I've finally found an animal! Come, come see it!" Still holding Kisi, Rowan followed her husband up the boulder to see the animal he planned to kill. Once on top of the boulder, Roshan pointed out the beautiful sabre. Rowan gasped. "B-but Roshan, she's beautiful! You couldn't" "Ah, nothing is too lovely for you, my darling!" declared Roshan, completely misunderstanding her words. "No, no! I mean she is so beautiful; surely she has a mate and a family! How could you kill her?" Roshan looked hurt at his wife's words. "But, Rowan, she's the only animal we've seen here, without her pelt you shall be cold!" "Then I suppose I'll simply be cold!" snapped Rowan, before turning heel and stomping down from the boulder. She hurried down quickly, but not before she could hear what they said next, "Do not be offended, chief, she's simply stressed because the new baby and everything! Shall I shoot the sabre anyway?" "Not now, later. We need to make sure she doesn't have a pack, or they could attack us when we don't expect it." "Yes sir." Rowan ran and ran, away from the camp, away from her husband, towards the sabre. She was going to warn her.

Meanwhile, at the tree, Shira walked in circles, kicking at pieces of hard dirt. She felt so alone… "Aww, does the wittle kitty miss loverboy?" crooned Crash and Eddie from a tree branch "Does the wittle kit-argh!" Shira swiped them both down from the tree with her claws, causing them to land in the mud. She laughed cruelly. "That'll teach you to tease a sabre!" Both possums clambered out of the mud and stamped off to get clean again, grumbling about her as they went. Shira sighed. The most annoying thing about what the possums had said was, it was true. She _did _miss Diego, the same way Ellie missed Manny, but Crash and Eddie couldn't tease their sister. Manny, Sid and Diego had all gone on an expedition to see if there was a slighter cosier place for them to migrate to in the winter. She sighed again. He'd be back soon. He had to come back, he had the cubs to think of now.

Rowan ran for miles, unable to catch her breath, but afraid to stop. If she stopped, she could be too late to save that beautiful sabre. Yet, despite her good intentions, Rowan was forced to stop, as a large brown mammoth was stood in front of her. Poor Rowan skidded to avoid the creature, nearly dropping Kisi. The mammoth turned, and gasped in shock. A smaller mammoth, presumably her daughter, stood beside her and stared. "What is it, Mom?" asked the smaller mammoth. "_She _is a human, Peaches, dear" answered the mother "What's your name, hun?" Rowan swallowed nervously before answering, "My name is Rowan, and this is my daughter Kisi" "Oh, wow!" gasped Peaches "What beautiful names!" Rowan blushed. "So, what are your names?" she asked kindly. "I'm Ellie, and this my daughter Peaches" said the mother proudly. "Glad to meet you!" replied Rowan cheerily. Just as Ellie was about to respond, a piercing scream rang through the trees. "What was that?" asked Ellie, startled. "It sounded like Auntie Shira!" exclaimed Peaches. "Oh no!" cried Rowan, clutching Kisi tighter. All three ran to the scream.

They burst into the clearing with the tree in, to see the beautiful sabre lying on her side, with a big spear embedded in her body. "Auntie Shira!" sobbed Peaches. Rowan leapt forward and dropped to Shira's side. She slipped her hand underneath the sabre's body, and checked to see if the spear pierced all the way through. Thankfully, it hadn't, but it had gone very deep. "The spear hasn't gone _all_ the way through her, but it's deep" reported Rowan, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. It didn't work. "Oh, the poor thing!" sighed Ellie, stroking Shira's head with her trunk. "Mommy, what will happen when Uncle Diego finds out?" asked Peaches. Suddenly, Ellie looked afraid.

"Dare I ask who 'Uncle Diego' is?" said Rowan cautiously. As if to answer Rowan's question, the wounded tiger she held murmured, "Diego, Diego" "Diego's her mate, he's off with my husband and their friend to try and find a warmer spot for us to live in this winter" "How ironic!" sighed Rowan "That's exactly why Shira's been shot down, so her pelt can keep my daughter warm," Rowan looked at Ellie's face, and quickly added "But I told them not to kill her, I swear I did!" "I believe you," said Ellie warmly "But we need to get her out of here, especially if someone's coming for her fur." Rowan nodded, she knew what hunters were like when collecting their kill. Suddenly, she remembered a remedy her mother had once used to save a tribe wolf. "You know, with the right ingredients, I just might be able to save her," offered Rowan boldly "But first, we need to get her out of direct view. No doubt Kunta and the others are already on their way!" "I know!" exclaimed Peaches "We can hide her in the tree-prison!" Using her trunk, she pointed to the big tree looming behind them. "Peaches, sweetheart, that tree's been sealed shut for months!" said Ellie. "Well then, we'll just have to un-seal it!" declared Peaches boldly, pushing at the planks of wood with her head. Ellie joined her, while Rowan comforted Shira as best she could. "Don't worry, Shira, I think I can save you. You're gonna be alright!" whispered Rowan soothingly "I promise you!" "We've got it!" cried Peaches, as she and her mother pushed the last of the boarding away "The tree's open again!"

Carefully, Rowan lifted Shira and laid her across Ellie's tusks. "Shouldn't we take out the spear?" asked Peaches. Rowan shook her head fiercely, as did Ellie. "Peaches, sweetie, we can't remove the spear, it's too deep into her! And anyway, she'd bleed to death!" explained Rowan, her hands over Shira's ears to stop her hearing the dreadful truth. Gently, Ellie carried Shira into the tree-prison, and set her down on the floor. "Right, now for my remedy!" said Rowan firmly, striding out of the tree "I'll be back soon - I promise! – I just need to get the ingredients." "Alright, but you'd better come back!" agreed Ellie grudgingly. "I'll prove I will come back!" declared Rowan. She walked over to Shira, and placed Kisi in her arms. "There!" said Rowan triumphantly "Now I must come back for my baby!" And with that, she ran to get the ingredients.

**And that's the end of my first chapter! Don't worry, I will do more, but I have to go out soon so it might be tonight but probably tomorrow. Please read and review! I don't mind criticism but remember, this is my first fanfic, so try to be nice please. Thanks for reading :)**


	2. Gone to get herbs

**Okay, I realise I didn't put this in the first chapter so…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age or any of the characters (except Rowan, Kisi and Kunta)**

**Quick thanks to KaylaDestroyer and Roamerfromaofw for reviewing my last chapter J**

**Yeah, I know I didn't really include Manny, Sid or Diego in the first chapter either, and, I'll admit, I kinda forgot about Granny and Louis, SORRY! I'll try and put them in this chapter, though!**

**Anyway, back to the story J**

"I'm just sayin' that we should be marking the way back so we know where we're going!" repeated Sid for the 50th time.

"Manny, _please_!" begged Diego wearily. Manny shook his head.

"I'm not gonna let you eat Sid!" said Manny firmly "No matter how much he deserves it!"

"Thank-you Manny! Wait… HEY!"

Manny and Diego rolled their eyes at Sid. He frowned back.

"Seriously though, we will get lost! We've been walking forever!" complained Sid unhappily, rubbing one of his feet, before promptly falling on his face.

"Right, like we're gonna take advice off the guy who just face-planted the ground!" growled Diego. Sid opened his mouth to respond but, after seeing the angry expression on Diego's face, thought better of it.

Meanwhile, down at the cove, Rowan plucked the ripest Lotus berries off their plant with satisfaction. There! She had everything she needed to make the remedy. She was just adding the berries to her collection of plants, leaves and herbs when a flash of grey caught her eye. For a second, she wondered if it was Shira, the sabre she was supposed to be saving, but then realised that it was impossible. But, whatever that was had looked so familiar…

"Oh no," whispered Rowan as the truth dawned on her "No, no, no!"

She grabbed the ingredients and ran, ran, ran away from the incoming terror.

Back at the tree, Ellie and Peaches were trying to comfort poor Shira.

"It's okay, sweetie, it's okay" crooned Ellie, stroking Shira's head with her trunk "It's all gonna be okay." She felt bad promising stuff that might not be true, but she couldn't help it, she just wanted to make her feel better.

As Ellie and Peaches made a fuss of the wounded tigress, a certain molehog tunnelled up to their feet.

"Hey Peaches, hello Miss Ellie!" Louis greeted the mammoths, not seeing Shira lying on the ground "What's going on?"

"Uhm, Louis…" Peaches pointed at Shira with her trunk.

"Oh, right"

Shira groaned in pain and humiliation. She HATED being babied like this! Aww, poor little Shira this, poor little Shira that, it was grating on her very last nerve! She looked down at little Kisi, a tiny human baby in the hands of a sabre, with only a woven blanket separating them, yet she was not afraid. Shira licked Kisi's cheek lovingly, but a tear came to her eye as a memory of her cubs came back, and a memory of their father. _Oh, where are you Diego? _she thought miserably.

**There we go, second chapter finished! I am going to update more tonight, which is why I'm not going to say something like 'Try and guess what terror Rowan saw', but you can try and guess before you read the next chapter if you want to. Please read and review!**

**Oh, and if you have any ideas on how Diego's finds out that Shira's hurt, they would be much appreciated, coz well, I got nothing.**


	3. Meet the cubs

**Yeah, yeah I know it's kinda weird to put two chapters up within like, 30 minutes of each-other, but I wanted to build suspense. Plus, I really wanted to definitely put Chapter 2 up tonight.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age or the characters (except, well, you know who I came up with)**

Ellie and Peaches stood over Shira's body, with Louis on Peaches' head, watching the tigress' chest rise and fall as she breathed. Suddenly, her chest stopped rising and falling, and she attempted to sit up straight. Keyword: attempted. She collapsed back on the tree-floor, whining in pain. Ellie reached out to her with her trunk.

"Shira, sweetheart, what is it?" she asked kindly.

"The cubs! Where *gasp* are the cubs!" panted Shira. Ellie's eyes grew wide. She turned to her daughter.

"Peaches! You and Louis go get the cubs and take them, erm, somewhere else!" demanded Ellie.

"Why can't we bring them here? Miss?" added Louis quickly.

"Louis, they're mother is lying in a puddle of blood on the floor with a spear in her side! They can't see that! Aztec and Carmen are only young!" explained Ellie, as patiently as she could.

"Are you having a slow day or something?..." asked Peaches sarcastically.

"Just go!" sighed Ellie, waving them off with her trunk.

"But-"

"GO!" roared Shira, losing her temper at last "JUST GO AND GET THE CUBS!" She then returned to gasping and whining while hugging baby Kisi. Startled, Peaches hurried out of the tree, Louis clinging to her trunk,

"So, what do you think?" asked Manny, gesturing to the giant cave beside him "There's a spot for everyone! A lovely big rock for the tiger and his tigress-" Diego growled "- with two fine rocks next to it for the cubs,a large tree which – despite the fact it defies the laws of nature – is perfect for Ellie, Peaches and the possums, with a nice, soft mossy area underneath for me to sleep on, and finally, a pair of good-sized rocks for Sid and Granny!" Manny smiled proudly, pleased with himself for finding such a perfect place for them all to live during the winter months.

"Not bad" admitted Diego, inspecting the rock that he would share with Shira "Not bad at all."

"Well…" began Sid, before a rounded cane hit him on the back of the head "Ow! What the…GRANNY!"

Granny hobbled past Sid and Diego, waving her cane at them angrily.

"Well, get outta the way already! Granny wants to see her new home!"

"Granny!" groaned Diego "How'd you follow us!"

"Where's Precious gonna sleep?" asked Granny, completely ignoring him.

"Granny, Precious is a whale, she can't sleep in the cave with us!" explained Manny, trying to control his temper.

"Watch it fez!" snapped Granny "Now Precious may be a little bloated but she's no whale!"

_This long day, _thought Diego, _just got longer._

_"_Hey, so, if we've officially decided that this is gonna be the cave we migrate to, can we, maybe, GO HOME!" he shouted angrily.

"Aww, does the tiger miss his tigress?" teased Sid, in a cutesy voice. Diego growled deeply. Sid then decided to grab Granny and run. Smirking, Diego chased them. Manny rolled his eyes before following. Sometimes the herd could be so childish!

At exactly that moment, in a cave on the other side of the island, two tiger cubs were cuddled together, whimpering and mewling.

"Don't worry little sis, I'll protect you!" whispered Aztec quietly, patting his sister on the back while trying not to cry himself.

"Little sis?" repeated Carmen "I'm only 10 minutes younger than you!"

Both attempted a half-hearted laugh at this, but neither succeeded. Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Quick, heavy footsteps.

"A-Aztec!" stammered Carmen, only to be 'shushed' by her brother. She pressed herself against her brother, comforted by his firm and protective hold. A shadow appeared in the doorway, and it was getting closer and closer…

"DON'T HURT US!" cried both cubs at the same time. They did that a lot.

"Hurt you?" repeated Peaches "Wouldn't dream of it!"

"PEACHES!" Both the cubs delighted flung themselves at the mammoth with extreme joy.

"And Louis!" said the little molehog, feeling hurt "I'm small not invisible!"

Peaches laughed, and so did the cubs, even though they hadn't heard what Louis said, they were just copying Peaches.

"Right, right c'mon kids! Me and Louis have to get you guys…uhm…somewhere else" Peaches smiled at the cubs. They both gazed up at her with confusion. She nodded.

"Yeah… I'll explain later"

Louis leapt up onto Peaches' head, using her topknot as a landing-pad, so that she could lift the cubs up onto her back.

"Hold on tight!" called Peaches "Ouch, okay not that tight!"

"Sorry!" squeaked Carmen, loosening her grip. And with that, Peaches took off to, uhm, somewhere else.

**Okay, well that's Chapter 3 done with. Yeah, I know it's short, I just got excited. Hey, if any of you guys have any ideas of 1. Places that Peaches could take the kids, 2. Names for other hunters or friends of the cubs, and 3. Funny (or dramatic) scenes.**

**Not all ideas will be included, if I don't include yours, I'm sorry, but I've probably just had too many idea's sent in. I'm gonna do Chapter 4 tonight, but I'm planning it to be short, focusing on the hunters, the home-finders (Manny, Sid, Diego and Granny), and maybe a little bit on Shira's recovery (mental recovery, I'm still taking ideas for physical recovery and anyway I don't want her to get better too fast because Diego hasn't even got back yet).**

**Thanks a lot! :)**


	4. Possums are stupid

**Okay, I know that I've updated a lot recently, but I'm getting sucked into this story! This chapter might be shorter than the others, just to say. Just a check-in with Rowan and the hunters, a quick bit on Manny, Sid, Diego and Granny on their way home, and a section on the possums where a certain injured tigress might get a little worse…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age or the characters (just Rowan, Kisi, Kunta and the plot)**

Roshan charged through the greenery, Kunta close behind. The island was so much more confusing on feet, instead of standing on a boulder. He noticed that Kunta was lagging behind.

"Kunta!" he called over his shoulder "We must hurry, Kunta! Or some other beast will steal our kill!"

That perked Kunta up! The thought of some rotten beast stealing his kill! And such a beautiful kill, too! Never! He got a sudden burst of energy, and caught up with Roshan easily. But Roshan had other stuff on his mind.

When the two men had descended the boulder, they'd passed the camp, and Rowan wasn't there. He'd simply assumed that she'd gone for a little walk and taken Kisi with her, but now, he wasn't so sure.

At that moment, Rowan herself was lost in the forest too, stumbling along with a heavy burden of plants, leaves, herbs and berries. She'd been running for such a long time, but she wouldn't let herself stop. That poor, poor tigress needed her help.

"Must…find…tree…" muttered Rowan "Need…to…help…tigress…"

But, despite her good intentions, with her legs shaking, her arms about to give out, and her head pounding, she had to stop. She staggered on as long as she could, but, just as she thought she couldn't carry on, she broke through the wall of trees and discovered a deserted cave. She crawled into the cave, and was pleased to find there was already a long rock set up with leaves, moss and flowers, with two handy little rocks beside it for her to set her burden down on. Without a second thought, she sprawled across the rock and fell into a deep, deep sleep.

Rowan thought she had everything she needed to cure Shira, and at the time, she did, but now, she needed more. And it's all thanks to Crash and Eddie.

The two possums were swinging from branch to branch, laughing and chattering about everything and anything, when they spotted their adopted sister Ellie standing in the entrance to the old tree-prison Diego had once trapped Shira in during the drift.

"Hey, I thought-"

"You thought! Dude, I barely even know you anymore! Is your name still even Crash?"

"No… it never was. _You're _Crash."

"Oh yeah. So what did you think?"

"I thought that tree was all boarded-up?"

"It used to be… let's check it out!"

"Okay, ready Eddie?"

"_You're _Eddie.

"Oh, right. Yeah."

They both swung onto one of the branches on the tree-prison and waited, listening.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" they heard Ellie ask nervously. An anxious giggle came from somewhere in the tree.

"I'll be fine Ellie."

The possums looked at each-other.

"Weird," muttered Crash "That sounded like Shira."

"Shut up, I'm listening!" hissed Eddie.

Ellie still sounded nervous.

"I just feel bad leaving you like this!"

"Seriously Ellie, I'll be fine for a night!"

"Well… if you're sure…"

"I am! Go! Get out!" said Shira jokily, but she started laughing anxiously again. Ellie obviously didn't believe her.

"Hey, uhm, Ellie?"

"Yeah?"

"Could I keep Kisi here tonight? I like the company."

"Of course you can! She likes you anyway!"

"Thanks." Shira was speaking quietly now, which only made Ellie more nervous about leaving.

"You do know I don't want to leave you, right?" she asked timidly.

"Yeah, of course I do. You've said so a million times! You just need to make sure that squirrel-thing doesn't come back to the cave – I get it!"

"Okay, okay, I guess I've made myself clear!"

There was an awkward pause. Crash kept trying to talk, but his brother wouldn't let him, resulting in one of their infamous slap-fights, causing them to miss the next part of the conversation.

"Hey, are you sure we shouldn't just pull the spear out?" asked Shira.

"Positive!" answered Ellie firmly "You'd bleed to – uhm – feeling… faint."

Shira looked at Ellie sceptically.

"I'm not an idiot, Ellie, I know you were gonna say bleed to death!"

"You're too smart!"

Both laughed then, but neither sounded sincere.

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning" sighed Ellie.

"Goodnight, Ellie."

"Goodnight, Shira."

Ellie sighed again, and walked out of the tree. Suddenly, she noticed that the entrance was wide open again. _Now, that's not very good for camouflage, _Ellie thought to herself.

"Hey, do you want this covered up again? An obvious entrance is bad for camouflage," asked Ellie. Shira thought for a moment, then decided it would be better if the entrance was covered, no matter how alone she would feel.

"Yeah, okay," she agreed "Just make sure it can be taken down easily!"

Ellie smiled kindly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Just as Ellie was about to start boarding up the entrance again, Shira called,

"See you in the morning?"

Ellie nodded firmly.

"First thing, sweetie!"

Ellie then boarded up the entrance, making sure it was loose but firm, so that it wouldn't collapse, but it would be easy to take down in the morning. There wasn't quite enough wood (as some had got broken when the tree-prison was opened again), so Ellie had to improvise using small bushes and stray plants to fill in the gaps. Just as she was about to leave, she shouted,

"GOODNIGHT, SHIRA!"

And she thought she could just about hear a "Goodnight Ellie!" back.

Crash and Eddie looked at each-other for a moment, confused. Since they'd missed a chunk of the conversation while fighting, they had no idea Shira was injured, so they didn't have a clue why she was in the tree, or why Ellie was being so protective of her. They climbed higher in the tree, and discovered that at the top of the tree trunk, where it spread into the biggest branches, there was a hollow hole leading straight into the middle of the tree! They glanced at each-other, grinned wickedly, and jumped.

It was a very good jump, but the big problem was, neither possum had thought about landing! Both panicked mid-air, and started looking for the first thing they could to use as a landing-pad. They were pleased to find something of great convenience: a long wooden pole sticking up in the air. What they both failed to notice was that the pole was lodged into Shira, who was lying on her side (the uninjured one), softly whispering to Kisi, who the possums didn't see either. They crash-landed on the spear, shoving it deeper into poor Shira, who cried out in pain. Not too far away, Ellie could've sworn she heard something, but decided she was imagining it.

Back in tree, the two possums had rolled off the spear, down onto the floor, in stiches laughing. Suddenly, they noticed the white tiger lying beside them, crying quietly and gasping in pain. They looked at each-other for a moment, and then started to laugh wildly, mistaking her tears for missing Diego.

"Aww, poor wittle tiger all alone!" teased Eddie.

"Aww, the kitty's missing her –"began Crash, but he never got to finish his sentence, as a certain white tiger swiped at both the possums with her sharp claws.

"It's not that I'm missing Diego!" she snapped, even though she did "It's this stupid spear that's stuck into my body, which you two morons just pushed even deeper into my side!" She then returned to softly whining and trying not to cry, burying her face in Kisi's woven blanket body.

"Hey Crash!" whispered Eddie "I've got an idea!"

"Another one! What now?"

"If we pull out that wooden-thingy, then Shira will stop hurting!"

"That's a great idea!"

"Let's go!"

They both climbed back up Shira's body until they reached the spear. Shira was in far too much of a state to notice, so they got away with it. They both grabbed hold of the spear, and started to pull. Shira _did _notice that, and she growled and roared, both in anger and in pain. The possums thought they were making progress, so pulled harder, which only hurt the poor tigress more. She roared and growled as loud as she could, which frightened sweet little Kisi, causing her to cry loudly.

Further into the forest, Ellie was sure she could hear something. _Maybe I'll just quickly run back to the tree, see if I can hear anything from there,_ she thought to herself. And with that, she hurried back to the tree-prison.

Meanwhile, the possums had almost got the spear out, and Shira's lovely white coat was stained bright red with her own blood. She roared until her own ears hurt, but she couldn't stop. She had a crazy idea in her head that if she roared loud enough, Diego might hear, if he was close, and come running to her. Obviously Diego didn't hear, but Ellie did.

She approached the tree with caution, but soon forgot carefulness when she heard the clear roaring, growling and crying. She tore the boards and bushes away in a panic, to reveal two possums tossing a wooden spear to the ground, a snow-white sabre with a blood-red coat, and a tiny human baby bawling her eyes out.

Ellie didn't need to say anything to the possums; the look on her face said it all. The possums ran screaming from the tree, crying for their mommy. Shira attempted a giggle, but her face was tearstained, her eyes were watery, her coat was red and her whole body was shaking. Kisi didn't look much better, except she wasn't bleeding. Shira had let go of her so she didn't sink her claws into the cute little baby by accident in her fit of rage.

"Shira," began Ellie gravely, but Shira nodded.

"I know, I know. I'm gonna die of blood loss,"

"Not necessarily… but the alternative hurts more."

It took a moment for the truth to dawn on Shira.

"No…"

"I'm sorry sweetie, but we have to! You'll die otherwise!"

"B-but, it'll just make the injury worse, won't it?"

"Not if we put it back in right."

Ellie wound her trunk around the spear, lifting it into the air above Shira's wound.

"Can't we just cover it up with leaves and stuff to stop the bleeding?" asked Shira desperately. Ellie paused.

"Well… I suppose if we used some big leaves and tied them with vines…"

"Oh thank-you Ellie!" repeated Shira over and over, relieved that she was free of that painful spear.

Ellie rushed out and gathered the biggest leaves she could find, along with some vines. She hurried back into the tree, and slapped the leaves over Shira's wound, quickly wrapping the vines over the leaves and around Shira's body to hold the bandage in place.

"That should do it!" said Ellie at last. Shira smiled, at least that was less painful.

It was then official that Ellie would stay with Shira all night, and make sure she was okay, because she really had lost a lot of blood. Ellie made sure that Shira was deepest in the tree, to make sure that anything coming through the entrance would attack Ellie first, as she was more able to fight.

As they both settled down to sleep, Ellie wound her trunk around Shira, the way she used to do with Peaches when she was little. Kisi slept in Shira's arms for, despite the roaring and growling, Kisi was very fond of the beautiful tigress. After Ellie had gone to sleep, Shira stared down at Kisi's sleeping face and wondered about her own children. Where were they? This led her to wondering where Diego was, what he was doing, whether or not he was having fun. Actually, he wasn't.

"I am soo tired!" complained Sid. Everyone groaned.

"Shut up Sid!" said Manny wearily.

"But we've been walking for like, ten hours!" whined Sid.

"We've been walking for about two hours Sid!" snapped Diego.

"No we haven't!" argued Sid "I know because it was still kinda light when we started walking, and it's all dark now!"

"Yeah, coz you took a dinner break for an hour, then three bathroom breaks, _and_ you kept stopping because your feet hurt, you idiot!"

"Woah, woah, woah! Now I may be stupid, but I am NOT an idiot!"

Diego rolled his eyes at Manny.

"Sid, even if we were all as tired as you – which we're not! – we couldn't go to sleep anyway!" explained Manny.

"Yeah!" agreed Diego "To go to sleep we'd actually need somewhere to _go _to sleep! I mean, really Sid, we would need a place to-"

"PRECIOUS!" called Granny "Where are you girl? PRECIOUS!"

"Ugh! Enough already!" groaned Manny, losing his patience.

"Granny, Precious is miles away, in the middle of the ocean, not here on land!" Sid tried to explain to his elderly Granny, who as usual, ignored him. In fact, she hit him in the head with her rounded cane.

"Now I've told you Sidney, my Precious can't swim!"

_Yep,_ thought Diego, _A real long day._

He thought about his cubs back home – Aztec and Carmen- and wondered how they were doing, what they were up to. He thought of his beloved Shira, wondered where she was, and wished he could be there with her, nuzzling against her as she slowly drifted off to sleep. _Oh well,_ he thought to himself, _I'll see her soon. I'm sure she's okay._

Little did he know.

**And that concludes my fourth chapter! This chapter isn't as short as I thought it was going to be – I got sucked into the story again and had to keep writing!**

**Still taking ideas for scenes, names and how Diego finds out about Shira, by the way.**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**Oh, and just to say, anyone who correctly guesses whose cave Rowan's in will get a shout-out at the start of the next chapter. Will try to update soon, but might not get a chance. :)**


	5. Carmen goes missing

**This chapter is dedicated to Roamerfromaofw and Dark Fox Tailz because they sent in the ideas for this chapter. Although there were quite a few good guesses for whose cave Rowan's in, but no-one actually guessed right. That's kind of my fault, I didn't make the link clear enough. By the way, this chapter is really long.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age or any of the characters (except Rowan, Kisi and Kunta) I guess I technically came up with the cubs too, but I got their names from a video I saw on Youtube. **

Ellie's POV

I looked down her sweet sleeping face. It's kinda strange, when she's fast asleep holding a human baby in her arms, she looks… angelic. Which is pretty ironic when you think how deadly she really is. Little Kisi was awake too, just staring up at me with her big brown eyes. She looked sad.

"You want your mommy, don't you?" I ask her softly. She was wrapped so tightly in her woven-blanket that she couldn't quite move to nod her head, but I could tell just by looking at her that she would if she could. I sighed.

"I'm sorry lovie; we just don't know where she is. But I promise that as soon as we find out, we'll get you to her. I promise that!"

Kisi sort of smiled at me then, and her big eyes lit up. We looked into each-other's eyes and I couldn't help but think how much she looked like Peaches did when she was a baby. It made me wonder just where my little angel was.

Shira's POV

It was incredibly hard not to burst out laughing. Ellie seriously thought I couldn't hear her! Okay, everything she said to Kisi was sweet, but I could actually hear her muttering all that stuff to herself about 'how angelic' I look when I'm sleeping and that junk. It seemed kinda mean to wake up and start snapping at Ellie for saying I looked sweet, especially considering how nice she was to me last night. I pretended to yawn, mostly coz I wanted to talk to someone and it would be weird to just randomly start talking when I'm supposed to be asleep.

"Mm…Diego…" I muttered sleepily, since that's actually what I said when I woke up that morning "Oh, right. I was dreaming."

Ellie smiled at me.

"Morning my little survivor," she said sweetly "Take it someone had a good dream?"

Even though I was acting I still blushed a deep red, feeling embarrassed as I _had _actually been dreaming about him every night since he left. I'm pretty sure Kisi giggled then.

"And good morning to you, cutie!" I said cheerily, nuzzling her gently "I don't suppose you feel like distracting Ellie before she shows me up again, do you?"

Ellie and Kisi both laughed at my joke, well, at least I'm _hoping _it was my joke…

Normal POV

"Hey Ellie, you did get someone to go take care of the cubs, right?"

"Yes," sighed Ellie "I got Peaches to take the kids, uhm, somewhere else."

"Where else?"

"I honestly have no idea."

"WHAT!"

"Well, you were hurt, and Rowan was panicking, and I guess _I _panicked too, and, uhm, well…"

"Okay, okay, I shouldn't have got mad. You were just trying to look out for the kids."

"Wow! For a pirate, you sure give over easy!"

"That can change at any moment, Ellie!" threatened Shira darkly.

"Well, someone's cranky in the morning!"

* * *

Peaches' POV

"Peaches! PEACHES!"

_Wierd, _I thought, _That sounds like the cu- oh, right, yeah. I'm taking care of them. Shoot. I should probably get up now. Being the 'adult figure' really sucks._

"Okay, okay! I'm up! I'M UP!" I groaned, scrambling up from the grassy bank I was sleeping on "You can stop yelling at me, I'M UP!"

"Yay!" cheered Carmen angelically, her big blue eyes growing wide. It's weird, she actually looks more like her mother when she's in a bad mood than a good mood. They have the same fur, and the same eyes, but Carmen's always seem brighter than her mother's. She's cute and sweet and I love her, but she speaks way too high-pitched.

"Auntie Peaches? Why did we sleep on the ground?" asked Aztec curiosuly, his eyes bright and intelligent, like his father's. His furs the same as his father's too, a tawny orange combined with his bright green eyes made him look...handsome, I guess. I was very glad when Louis distracted me from my strange thoughts.

"Should I explain to them, Peach?" he asked quietly, tapping me on the head, since he slept there last night.

"Yeah, okay, but speak up, Louis, they won't hear you otherwise."

He nodded.

"Kids, we were walking around really late last night, and I guess we kinda fell asleep on the ground coz we were, well, so tired."

"_That's_ your explanation? Ugh, _I'll_ explain!" I rolled my eyes at Louis. Carmen giggled.

"What?" I asked.

"It's just, Mommy and Daddy argue like that all the time!" she smiled. I looked up at Louis for help, but got nothing. He looked exactly like I felt. Awkward. Considering we'd both seen their Mommy very recently and weren't actually sure if she was, you know, _here _anymore.

"Hey... Peach, where are we taking the kids today?" asked Louis, clearly trying to change the subject. Problem was, that was just as awkward. See, I had no idea where we were going to take the kids.

"I was thinking we could, uhm, walk around for a bit and, uhm, check out the new island and, stuff."

"That's boring!" whined the cubs at the same time. It is seriously freaky how they do that. Honestly, it creeps me out!

"Okay, fine. What do you wanna do?" I ask, in a kinda grouchy mood.

At least that shut them up for a bit.

"I got it! We can go on adventures!" exclaimed Aztec, leaping up into the air. Somehow, Carmen managed to leap up and land at exactly the same time, which was extra-freaky coz she didn't even have that idea in her head!

"Alright, Mr. Adventure Guy!" I said, still kinda grouchy "What kind of adventure should we go on? Bearing in mind we can't fly, swim or teleport!"

I felt the need to add that last sentence in because almost every plan those cubs come up with when we babysit them is physically impossible for a mammoth, a molehog and two sabre cubs.

"Hey, we could- no, flying."

"Ooh, ooh we can, no... swimming."

"What if we... shoot. Teleporting."

They both looked kinda crestfallen after that and I felt really bad so I tried to make it up to them.

"Okay, I'll tell you what. Why don't we combine ideas?" I suggested "We could wander around the island for a while and wait for an adventure to come to us!"

The cubs seemed really enthusiastic about that, and I didn't hear any complaints from Louis, so I went with that idea. I let the cubs play in front of me, so that I could see them. Louis, meanwhile, was perched on my topknot, apparently too lazy to walk. I groaned. _Mom, if this day's as bad as I think it's gonna be, you SO owe me!, _I thought wearily.

* * *

Normal POV

Diego woke up first, as usual. Whenever he had something on his mind he found it hard to sleep for very long. Manny, Sid and Granny, on the other hand, seemed to have no trouble whatsoever sleeping in late. He sighed.

"Oh, Shira," he looked up at the sky "I really can't wait to get home to you."

He sighed again, lay his head on his paws, and drifted back to sleep, dreaming about his tigress and his cubs.

* * *

Shira's POV

I pressed my face into Kisi's little body and bit my lip.

"Is it bad?" I ask quietly. I take Ellie's silence as a 'yes'.

"Well... it's a little bit, uhm, red and, er, painful-looking."

"Don't sugarcoat it, Ellie. How bad does it look?"

There was an awkward silence.

"Do you want the honest answer, or the friendly answer?"

"Honest answer! No offense intended, but the 'friendliness' and 'sugarcoats' are seriously getting on my nerves!"

"Well! Offense taken! Just for that, I will give you the honest answer!"

"Did I not just ask you to?"

"Moody. Anyway, if I'm gonna tell you the truth, cover the kid's ears. Don't wanna scare her."

I nodded and calmly placed my paws over Kisi's ears, pretending that I couldn't hear my heart thumping in my chest.

"Right so, tell me the truth. How bad is it?"

"A lot of bloodstains..."

"Expected."

"A very deep hole in your side..."

"Freaky, but I saw it coming."

"A few splashes of fresh blood here and there..."

"I can tell you're leading up to the worst part."

"And a lot of raw, angry-looking flesh."

I swallowed, trying not to be sick. Horrid images of bloody wounds flashed through my mind.

"You know, if you wanna look yourself, I'm sure you could see..."

"No!" I interrupted "I really do not wanna look myself!"

Ellie gently stroked my back murmuring "Poor Shira" over and over and over very irritatingly. _Where. Is. Rowan?, _I thought furiously.

* * *

Normal POV

Carmen ran and ran. She was playing hide 'n' seek with her brother, and Peaches was counting. She was determined to run for miles and be crowned the best hide 'n' seek player in the history of the entire world, but she got distracted by a flowering bush.

"Ooh, pretty!" she cooed, pawing at the blossoming flowers "Pretty, pretty!"

She leaned in a little bit too far, and fell straight through the bush, landing on her face. She clambered to her feet, rubbing her face with her paw. For some reason, she managed to not notice the large hole in front of her and fell straight through, screaming loudly.

As she was falling, a Pterodactyl swooped underneath her and caught the falling cub. She dug her claws into the dinosaur out of habit, and clung on for dear life. Suddenly, she noticed a brown weasel standing in front of her, facing out into the distance, hunched over the dino's head holding a vine which he was using as a rein for the flying creature. She couldn't help staring at the leaf eyepatch that was tied around his head, but didn't like to say anything, for fear of distracting him.

He landed neatly enough on a rocky ledge, where he turned to face Carmen.

"The name's Buck. Short for Buckminster. Long for Buh. And who might you be?"

"I might be Carmen, and I might've accidentally fallen through a hole in the ground playing hide 'n' seek with my brother and my cousin and my cousin's best friend."

Buck nodded.

"Ah, so, you're a sabre cub, right?"

"I might be."

Buck chuckled.

"I like you're style, Whitey."

"Er...thanks?"

"So, I probably out to get you back home before your parents get worried!"

"Nah," said Carmen, shaking her head "Daddy's away with two of my uncles and my Granny, even though she's not my _real_ granny, and my Auntie sent me off with my cousin and her best friend to play for a bit, and Peaches says we can't go home yet, but she won't tell me why."

Buck's ears perked up, and his eye grew wide.

"Peaches? That name sounds familiar..."

"It does? That's weird, coz I heard Daddy talking to my other two uncles, they're Auntie Ellie's adoptive brothers, and yeah so, they were talking about a weasel called Buck who tamed dinosaurs, but Daddy saw me watching and said they were just joking and not to tell Aztec because Mommy was gonna make a story using that character and it would spoil it for my brother if I told him. Sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

Buck shook his head, even though she was.

"Not at all. I love a good story. So, this Auntie Ellie and Cousin Peaches, do they happen to be mammoths?"

"Yeah! How'd you know?"

Buck ignored her question.

"And, Auntie Ellie's adopted brothers, do they happen to be possums who fight a lot?"

Carmen nodded excitedly.

"Wow! You're one of those mystic people who can read minds!" she exclaimed. Buck glanced at her, confused.

"So... this Peaches. Her Daddy's called Manny, right?"

"Yep!"

"And I'm gonna guess you have a sloth uncle called Sid, and you're Daddy's called Diego?"

"Yeah... you're kinda freaking me out Mr. Buck!"

Buck laughed, not really listening. _If Diego's her daddy, _he thought, _then Diego must've found himself a mate! Way to go tiger!_

"Mr. Buck! Do you know Mommy's name?"

"Afraid not. Care to tell me?"

"Mommy's name is Shira."

"Shira?"

"Yeah! Do you know her?"

"No... but I'd sure like to, she sounds interesting."

"Trust me, she is! She used to be a pirate!"

"Oh, wow! That's cool!" said Buck, not really believing Carmen.

"Can we be friends, Mr. Buck?"

Buck smiled sweetly at the little cub.

"Course we can, tigress."

"Funny, that's what everyone in the herd calls Mommy!"

Buck sighed and rolled his eye when Carmen wasn't looking. That herd was getting wierder and weirder!

* * *

"Diego! Wait up!" whined Sid.

"Sorry, it's just we're nearly home! I can actually _see_ the cave!" shouted Diego eagerly, who'd stopped to wait for his friends, but was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"Okay, I know, you want to get home to see Shira and the cubs, but you, need, to slow, down!" wheezed Manny. He was also carrying Granny, who was particulary grouchy because Diego had eventually woken her up as he wanted to get going.

"SID!" yelled Diego "Would you hurry up already!"

Sid, who was dragging his feet and sloping along, groaned angrily

"Sid, you do realise that the longer you take, the more over-excited he's gonna get, right?" sighed Manny, exhausted. Sid hurried up.

"PRECIOUS!"

"Oh, that's it! I'm outta here!" snapped Diego, running ahead to the nearby cave. He ran and ran and ran through the trees until he was in the clearing right in front of the cave where the cubs were almost always playing. But, not now. _That's kinda weird, _he thought, _The weather's fine. Oh well, I guess they're just having a little nap. I bet they kept poor Shira up 'til all hours last night playing games._

He strolled into the cave smirking to himself, planning to just cuddle up next to his sleeping wife and be there when she woke up, but stopped in his tracks. Because, sprawled across the large mossy rock that Shira (along with some help from Peaches) had decorated with flowers and plaited ivy vines, was a human lady, sleeping soundly. Well, she was sleeping soundly. Until Diego took a long, deep breath and roared. And roared and roared.

* * *

A roar rang through the air, but it sounded like it was from a good distance away. Shira looked up from staring down at Kisi's cute little face, and glanced around. Suddenly, it hit her.

"Oh, the sweet sound of my softie's return!" she drawled sarcastically, with an eye roll. Ellie laughed heartily, and even little Kisi seemed to be smiling widely.

* * *

"Carmen! CARMEN!" shouted Peaches "You can come out now! I give up!"

Suddenly, a roar echoed through the forest. Peaches looked up at Louis, who was still on her head. Louis looked down at Peaches. Both of them looked at Aztec, who'd stopped still. Peaches shrugged.

"Carmen! Your Daddy's home!" she called. Louis and Aztec nodded in approval.

* * *

Manny looked back at Sid, who was struggling along and gasping for breath. Manny grabbed him around the neck with his trunk and hauled him up beside Granny, before thundering off in the direction of the clearing. _Oh, please, please, PLEASE don't let him slice anyone innocent!, _thought Manny fretfully, _That is, if he hasn't already!_

* * *

Rowan leapt up from the rock, holding her hands up in surrender. She eyed the orange tiger fearfully.

"I'm guessing _your_ Uncle Diego?"

His low, angry growl was obviously supposed to be taken as an answer. She staggered backwards and accidently tripped over Carmen's rock, tipping it over. Thankfully, all the ingredients for the herbal mix were set down on Aztec's rock, as it was bigger. Unfortunately, knocking over his daughter's bed was NOT the best way to calm down the sabretooth. He lunged for Rowan's throat, and would've got his teeth into it too, if Manny hadn't appeared at exactly that moment and grabbed him around the waist with his trunk.

"Hey, hey! Woah, woah, woah! Diego, calm down!"

"Please, please Mr. Diego! I can explain!" begged Rowan, her eyes watering "Honestly, I can!"

Sid hopped down from Manny's back and sauntered up to Rowan.

"How do we _know _you can explain? How do we _know _you're telling the truth?" he asked, standing very close to Rowan and pointing his finger right in her face "How do we know-"

"Is he always like this?" interrupted Rowan, directing her question to Manny who, in her opinion, was the friendliest of the lot. Manny nodded and made a 'Welcome to my world!' face. Rowan attempted to smile at him, but quickly lost all will to smile after looking at Diego's furious expression again.

"Where are my family?" asked Diego, trying to rein in his temper. Rowan suddenly grew even more nervous.

"Oh, uhm, okay, it's kind of a long story. See-"

"WHERE ARE MY FAMILY!" exploded Diego, losing whatever control of his temper he had left. Manny struggled to keep him at bay, from both Rowan and himself, and ended up actually throwing Diego over to the far side of the clearing. The impact of the fall seemed to extinguish his fire, even if it only worked for a little while.

"Now," said Manny, turning to Rowan "Tell us this story. And explain the herbs and leaves and berries and stuff."

"Oh, well, it's kinda complicated... I'll tell you on the way! You have to take me to the tree-prison from the drift! Fast! They're coming!"

**dun, Dun, DUN! Sorry, just had to. Also sorry I haven't updated for a little while, had a ton of homework! :(**

**Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, please R&R!**

**Got a lot of other stuff planned, not only for this story, but for two other stories that I've been working on. A oneshot and an actual story to be precise. And, thanks to Dark Fox Tailz, I have an idea for another story, which is a crossover. :)**

**Will try and update soon, but might not have a chance. I think I'll either be able to get Chapter 6 of this and/or the oneshot up by Monday. Probably 'or' not 'and'. Thanks for reading! :D**


	6. Saving Shira

**Yeah**,** yeah, I know I haven't updated for a few days, but for me, I'm actually writing this really fast. Got a load of homework so updates may be slow but I've got ideas in progress, including some new character's...**

**Okay, on to the story! Oh, shoot,**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age or the characters (except Rowan, Kisi, Kunta, Ravi, Zuri, Aztec and Carmen (even though I got their names from other characters) and if they appear in this chapter, which I doubt they will, Elliot, Liza, Max, Marisol, Richie, Emily, Gwen and Nathan. Don't worry about those last ones for now, I don't think they're gonna end up in this chapter anyway, just wanted to include them in case they are. I also came up with Dormen, but my mum gave me the name. I suppose Redser and Hanna are technically mine too, but they're not a main characters.)**

Rowan's POV

"So you honestly expect us to believe that stupid story?" scoffed Diego, looking at me as if I were dirt. I still nodded, despite my anger.

"Yes! Because it's true!" I persisted. I would have been making big gestures with my arms, as I always do when I'm trying to make a point, but Manny was running so fast I was scared I would fall of his back if I let go. Diego rolled his eyes at me.

"Yeah, right, of course!" he laughed at his own pathetic joke "Can you even hear yourself? 'Oh, please, please believe me! Roshan, Kunta and the other hunters are coming! I saw some of the tribe-wolves when I was down at the cove! They speared Shira; she needs our help!' Pathetic!"

"Uhm, Diego..."

"What, Manny? I was on a roll there!"

"If her story wasn't true, how would she know the names of our herd?"

Diego stopped short. He looked at me and I nodded.

"She needs our help."

He nodded back, and we took off at double-speed. _Finally!, _I thought impatiently, _It's about time we got somewhere! _I then wrapped my arms protectively around the ingredients for the medicine. At least I knew I could cure her.

* * *

Shira's POV

_Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!, _I thought as Ellie 'tended' to my wound, _There is NO way that's actually helping anything! Where on earth is Rowan?! _Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed through my body. I lost it then.

"OW!" I shrieked, hiding my face behind Kisi again.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" gabbled Ellie, patting my back and, although I would never say it, actually just making the fading pain spread. I still cursed at myself under my breath for breaking my promise that I made to myself to not cry out no matter how much Ellie hurt me.

"It's okay." I just about managed to say, although my voice betrayed me by wavering in pain.

"Oh, you poor thing!" sighed Elie, stroking my head. I had to bite my lip again to stop myself from cussing at her. Not coz she was hurting me, but because she knows I hate all the 'oh, poor Shira' junk. There was an awkward silence. i had an idea.

"Hey, Ellie?" I asked "How come Manny, Sid, Diego and Granny haven't come charging in yet?"

Ellie shrugged.

"I got nothing. Maybe they ran into Peaches, Louis and the cubs?"

"Probably something like that."

A loud rumbling echoed through the trees, along with familiar voices.

"Or not." I sighed.

* * *

Normal POV

Manny and Sid ran through the forest, with Diego in front of them and Rowan and Granny on their backs.

"Diego! Slow down!" puffed Sid, who was struggling to carry his 80-year-old grandmother. Diego muttered something under his breath. It was not something nice.

"Diego! We don't use vulgar language in this herd!" shouted Manny firmly. Diego called something over his shoulder that might've been 'sorry', but Manny didn't think so. Diego broke through the wall of trees and tore across the clearing to the tree-prison. He was running so fast his paws were hardly touching the ground. Manny and Sid ran as fast as they could, but it wasn't exactly easy, as trees seemed to pop up out of nowhere right in front of them. When they finally broke the wall of trees, Diego was practically at the tree-prison.

"Diego! Wait for us!" shouted Sid.

"No! She needs my help!" he roared.

"Well you can't help without Rowan and she's back here with us!" pointed out Manny. Diego swore but stopped running. He would've had to anyway; he was completely out of breath.

"Now, now, that's not how a Daddy should talk!" said a familiar female voice behind him. Diego got up again and walked slowly into the tree-prison. Rowan's story had in no way prepared him for what he saw. He saw a nervous mammoth mopping at a pool of crimson blood on the floor with big leaves, discarded leaves and vines on the other side of the tree that were stained red, along with a long wooden spear that had blood smears on about a quarter of it, and a very weak tiger who's once white fur was now the colour of pure blood.

"Shira," he whispered softly "What have they done to you?"

* * *

Carmen trotted loyally after Buck, completely trusting the weasel now. She still believed he was psychic, as he hadn't had the time to explain the proper story to her yet. She spun proudly, thinking that Buck was the most respected animal down in the strange, new world. Buck lead her up a long, winding path that climbed up a mountain.

"C'mon Carmen!" Buck called over his shoulder "We're nearly at the top!"

"Oh goody!" cried Carmen, glad that they were almost done walking. Her legs were aching, and she wanted her Mommy and Daddy badly. Buck sensed this, and decided that talking about her family might make Carmen feel better.

"So... your Mommy. I take it you look like her, not your Daddy?" he said, even though he knew the answer anyway. Carmen nodded.

"Yeah, everyone says I look just like Mommy. And my brother Aztec looks just like Daddy!"

"Well then your Mommy must be beautiful, Carmen, because you are adorable!"

She smiled at him.

"Thank-you, Mr. Buck!"

"No worries, kiddo."

Another awkward silence.

"So, uhm, your brother Aztec," said Buck, hoping to keep Carmen talking this time "Does he act like your Daddy too?"

Carmen considered it for a minute.

"Kinda... when he's hunting at least. But generally, not really. Aztec's less of a pushover than Daddy."

"Yeah, he always was kinda soft..." laughed Buck, as memories came back.

"So, how d'you know my herd?" she asked. Not a good idea. Buck sighed. _I suppose I might as well tell her now, _he thought to himself. And he started the long, long story.

* * *

"Oh where is she? Where is she?" fretted Peaches, pacing back and forth in front of Aztec. Louis had run home, as he hadn't turned up the previous night and his family would be worried. So Peaches was on her own with two sabre cubs to look after. Well, one. The other was still missing.

"Hey, maybe she went down to Sparkly?" suggested Aztec, fresh hope sparking in his green eyes. That same hope ignited in Peaches' eyes as well.

"Of course! She loves it down at Sparkly! Good thinking, Aztec!"

Sparkly Falls was a beautiful waterfall a little further away (named by - surprise, surprise - Carmen) and it sparkled in the sunlight, which seemed to always be shining over the rushing water. It was a great place for the kids to play for, as the river that flowed from the plunge pool did run deep, some parts were shallow enough for the kids to play in. Everyone on the island had embraced Carmen's nickname for the place, and over time it became the waterfall's official name.

"Alright, Aztec, get on my back! It'll be faster that way!" said Peaches boldly, lifting Aztec up with her trunk and placing him on her back "And don't forget to call out your sister's name every now and then, just in case she's not there yet!"

"Got it!" replied Aztec, and proceeded to shout his sister's name over and over as they raced to Sparkly Falls.

* * *

"We're lost!" declared Roshan.

"You mean you do not know where we are going?"

"No, Dormen, hence the term 'We're lost!"

Dormen shrank away, afraid of his tribe leader. He went back to talking to his wolf, Redser.

"Oh please, Dormen!" said Kunta scornfully "The tribe-wolves cannot talk!"

"Rowan always used to say they can!" retorted Dormen. Bad idea. Really, really bad idea.

You see, the previous day, when Roshan and Kunta had been lost in the woods, they had managed to make it back to their camp and tribe not long after nightfall, to find that Rowan and Kisi were not there. Roshan and Kunta settled down to spend the night, but the next morning the entire tribe had packed up the camp and gone out searching. Roshan now knew how his father had felt when he went missing all those years ago.

"Don't cry, Roshan." said a little voice behind him. Kunta's 7-year-old daughter Zuri was standing behind him, patting him on the shoulder "I promise you we'll find them!"

Roshan smiled at her sweet little face. Her brother Ravi, who was only a year older than her, came up to them as well.

"Zuri is right!" he said kindly "Rowan can protect herself and Kisi perfectly fine. In fact, I bet we shall see them before we know it!"

Roshan thanked the two siblings, but did not believe them truly. He felt in his heart he would never see his beloved wife and daughter again. Roshan sank down onto a rock in despair. Kunta sat down next to him.

"The children are correct, Roshan." he whispered "We will see them before we know it."

"I know that." breathed Roshan "The question is: Dead or Alive?"

For this Kunta had no answer, and Roshan knew exactly why. Because six years ago Kunta's beloved had gone missing, and they had indeed found her, but she was no longer with them. In fact, she was just taking her final breaths when Kunta ran to her side, the kids close behind. They all held onto her and smiled at her face, until her eyes closed and her chest grew still. Then they cried. They just leaned over her corpse and cried. The tribe left them alone to pay their respects. They'd all come back at nightfall, with tear-stained cheeks and red, puffy eyes. No-one even dared breath her name anymore. Roshan feared his final moments with Rowan would be the same.

In actual fact, Ravi was right. They would reunite sooner then they thought.

* * *

The herd was gathered around poor Shira. Well, the herd minus Carmen, Aztec, Peaches and Louis. Diego was lying beside her, on the left of course, as she had the spear wound on her right. As soon as he lay down she had snuggled up against him and whispered "It's good to have you back!" in his ear.

"It's good to be back!" he whispered in return, licking her cheek. She licked him back, and laughed when he blushed, still managed to be the same sabre after a spear had been stabbed into her side. Sid was looking at her, his head tilted to one side.

"What sloth?" she snapped, breaking at last.

"It's just - I'm glad you're okay and all... but you look terrible!"

Shira smiled at him, a sickly sweet smile that scared him more than a roar and snarl would've.

"Well, you know, getting stabbed... it does that to ya!"

She then hid her face on Diego's fur, her outburst apparently over. Diego nuzzled her softly, and whispered something in her ear. Whatever it was made her giggle, but they wouldn't tell anyone who asked.

"I'm back!" called Rowan, running back to the tree. They'd taken Shira out of the tree now, because a lot of time had passed with no signs of attack, the herd wanted to support her and couldn't all fit into the tree-prison, and with two mammoths, a sabre, two possums and two sloths surrounding her Shira felt pretty safe. Anyway, she was getting claustrophobic in that stupid tree. Rowan had stored her ingredients inside the tree though, for safe-keeping. Actually, to keep them away from Crash and Eddiem, who knew this and were sulking on Ellie's back.

"Okay, I think I've got everything we need!" said Rowan, laying the ingredients down in front of Shira, trusting her to watch them and guard them from two certain mammals, that happen to have brown and white stripes and long pink tails. Rowan gathered the rest of the ingredients from the tree, and hurried back out to the herd.

"I got some stuff for you to mix the ingredients in like you asked, Rowan." said Sid, offering her a couple of empty turtle shells. Rowan thanked him and took the turtle shells, putting various herbs, plants, leaves and squished berries into the different shells. The herd watched in amazement as, with an amount of cold, fresh water Rowan turned the gloopy mess into a creamy medicine mixture.

"Alright, it's just about ready!"

"Uhm, Rowan, not to doubt you or anything, but are sure it's safe?" asked Diego cautiously, eyeing the mixture with an obvious distrust. Rowan scowled.

"Of course I'm sure!" she snapped "If I wasn't, do you really think I'd test it on an animal?"

Diego shrugged.

"Humans are weird." he answered casually.

"Oh, right, coz you're the picture of normal!"

"Look, Rowan, I could really go without the attitiude!"

"And I could really go without the annoying orange sabre! Guess we're both out of luck!"

"Okay, that's it!" hissed Diego, leaping to his feet. Unfortunately, he forgot all about Shira lying next to him and slammed one of his front paws down on her stomach, hard. She cried out in pain, and swiped at Diego when he tried to comfort her. Smiling smugly, Rowan said,

"Manny, could you please pass me the water so I can clean her wound and rinse my hands before I start?"

Manny nodded and handed her another turtle-shell that was filled with clear water. She carefully poured most of the water over the gash in Shira's side. Although she winced at first, Shira decided it was actually quite relaxing. Rowan picked up the first of three turtle-shells. The mixture in this one conatined Lotus berries, which not only made it red/pink, but also made it an anaesthetic (so it numbed the pain).

"Don't worry Shra, this won't hurt a bit!" assured Rowan. She scooped up about half of the mixture in one hand, and smoothed it onto and into the wound. Shira sighed softly, for the Lotus berries really were magic at removing pain. Saving the rest for later, Rowan picked up the second shell, which contained a brownish mixture.

"Okay, this one might sting a little!" warned Rowan. Shira nodded calmly. Rowan tipped the brown mixture into her hand and rubbed it into the horrid wound. Shira gasped in pain, but then the numbing sensation of the Lotus berries kicked in again (they were set off by the fresh pain) and she felt relaxed once again.

"Wow! You're very brave!" commented Rowan "When we used this on a tribe wolf, they were howling in pain at this point!"

Shira smiled, pleased that Rowan had called her brave. Little Kisi, whom Ellie was holding with her trunk, clapped her small hands together, making everyone say 'Aww!'. Rowan reached for the third shell, that contained a dull green mixture. Shira froze in terror for a second when she saw it, but Rowan shook her head.

"No worries, Shira, the worst's over!" promised Rowan, patting the tiger's head with her clean hand. She then proceeded to smearing the green mixture over the wound, but making sure she got it right the way through meant she did have to hurtg Shira a bit. Even worse, the Lotus berry mixture had stopped working! Shira was about to panic, when the soothing calm of the Lotus berries appeared again, even stronger than before. Rowan had put on the second coat of the Lotus berry mixture.

"Now she just waits still for a few hours and she'll be fine!" declared Rowan, getting up off the ground and taking baby Kisi away from Ellie to cuddle her herself.

"Hey!" said Diego "Don't just go wandering off now! What if it doesn't work and we need your help again?"

"It will work" said Rowan firmly "And I wasn't going anywhere. I was just hugging my daughter who I feel like I haven't seen in a year!"

Shira rolled her eyes. _Here we go again!, _she thought.

**And Chapter 6 is done! Yeah, I figured it was about time I let Shira get better. She's been severely injured for five whole chapters, I figured I might as well let her heal in the sixth. So yeah, Rowan saw one of the tribe-wolves down at the cove, but the tribe's lost in the forest! **

**Will the tribe find the herd? What will happen if they do? Will Carmen find her family? What will happen when Peaches and Aztec go to Sparkly Falls? How will the herd relocate the kids and Peaches? Will Louis get in really, really big trouble when he goes home? (okay, stupid question, I made that pretty clear) Why am I asking all these questions when only I know the answers?**

**Please read and review and send in any sugestions :)**

**Thanks :D**


	7. Captured!

**Chapter 7 already? Wow, that went fast! Anyway, thanks a lot to everyone reading and reviewing and favouriting and following this story! It just recently passed 1,200 views, so thank-you so much! :)**

******Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age or the characters, except Rowan, Kisi, Kunta, Ravi, Zuri, Aztec and Carmen (even though I got their names from other characters) and, even though not all of them are in this chapter,******** Elliot, Liza, Max, Marisol, Richie, Emily, Gwen and Nathan. Don't worry about all of those ones for now, I don't think they're all gonna end up in this chapter anyway, just wanted to include them all in case they are. I also came up with Dormen, but my mum gave me the name. I suppose Redser, Hanna, Loretta and Leanne are technically mine too, but they're not a main characters.**

******Woah, that disclaimer is getting LONG! :( Ah, well, life's hard :) Okay, onto the story! Oh, and just to say, this is quite a long chapter, just so you know.**

Louis sat in his burrow, sulking. He was grounded for a week and a half because he hadn't come home the night before. It wasn't his fault! Babysitting tiger cubs is tiring work! Why should he get punished because he helped his best friend look after her troublesome cousins? His two sisters, Loretta and Leanne, were NOT helping by con stantly teasing him for getting into trouble. Loretta was the worst. At least Leanne had a little bit of respect for her older brother, where as Loretta thought the whole universe revolved around her and everyone else were simply her slaves.

"Hahaha! You got in trouble!" jeered the little witch, standing in the entrance to Louis's burrow.

"Go away, Loretta!" snapped Louis. This was one of the rare times he was fearless and forceful; when he was fighting with his sisters.

"What're you gonna do about it, Weiner?"

Unfortunately for Louis, his bratty sisters had discovered his wretched nickname, courtesy of Ethan and his crew. One of the most humiliating things about the stupid nickname was his best friend's DAD had come up with it! Louis clenched his fists. Leanne appeared beside her sister.

"Leave off, Lorrie!" she warned "He's getting really angry!"

Loretta laughed, not unlike the way an evil queen would.

"What's he gonna do, Lee? He can't hit a girl!"

"Still... he is our older brother..."

"Ugghh!" groaned Loretta "You little wuss!"

Leanne looked at the ground, upset at her sister's cruelty. Sensing that she had the upperhand, Loretta pressed on.

"Yep, that's our family. Weiner, Wuss and Wonderful!"

She gestured to herself proudly. Louis rolled his eyes.

"Don't you mean 'Wicked'?"

Leanne couldn't help giggling. Loretta glared at her.

"Leanne! You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Well, you've not been on mine!"

"What in the world are you talking about, Lee? I've always been on your side!" lied Loretta, in a sugar-sweet voice. Leanne looked like she was falling for it, so Louis stepped in.

"Hahaha, good joke Lorrie!" he laughed "You on Lee's side! HA! You crack me up!"

Loretta glared at him. Louis carried on fake-laughing. Leanne ran out of the burrow, starting to cry.

"Now look what you've done, Weiner!"

"Look what _I've _done? I was just telling her the truth, Lorrie!"

"No you weren't, you were lying! I'm always on Lee's side!"

"Oh yeah? Like when?"

Loretta was silent.

"See," said Louis, smiling smugly "You're never _really _on Lee's side."

Loretta walked out of Louis's burrow, slightly dazed. She was realising that her brother was right.

* * *

"No sign of her!" reported Aztec, leaping up out of the water. He'd been checking the river to see if Carmen was hiding there. Obviously, she wasn't. Peaches sighed.

"I've looked everywhere, I just can't find her!"

There was an awkward silence.

"Oh man, Uncle Diego's gonna kill me!"

Aztec shook himself dry and leapt up onto a rock directly in front of Peaches.

"No he won't!" declared the little orange cub, baring his teeth and preparing to pounce "Coz I'm gonna protect you!"

"Thanks, but he's still gonna be really, really mad! I can hear him now! 'Where on earth are the cubs?"

* * *

"Where on earth are the cubs?" Diego paced back and forth angrily, repeating it over and over "Where on earth are the cubs?"

"If no-one knew the first time, why would asking it 50 more times do anything to help?" snapped Shira, not in the best of moods to say the least. She hated having to keep still for so long, and she could've sworn Rowan had been saying "Just 10 more minutes!" for at least an hour and a half now.

"Just 10 more minutes!" said Rowan, as if on cue "Serioiusly, you can move really soon!"

Shira rolled her eyes and muttered "Yeah, sure, whatever." under her breath.

"I heard that!"

"Sorry Rowan, I'm just kinda in a bad mood."

"Kinda?!" exclaimed Eddie.

"Yeah, you've been snapping at us for the past three hours!" agreed Crash. Shira smiled to herself.

"Well, yeah but that's pretty standard, if you ask me!" said Diego.

"Funny thing, no-one did!" retorted Shira.

"Just makin' converstaion!"

"What, so making fun of me is just casual conversation now?"

"What - no! I didn't say that! Manny, Sid, did I say that?"

"Don't get us involved!" they shouted simultaneously.

"Yeah, this has nothing to do with them!" agreed Shira.

"Why are you always so contrary?"

"Right, look who's talking!"

"See, there we go again! Perfect example!"

"Shut up, Tigey Wigey!" Shira laughed to herself as she remembered Sid's old nickname for Diego.

"Hey, how'd you - SID!"

Shira chuckled to herself, counting that as a victory. Diego wasn't objecting, but that was mostly because he was trying to stomp Sid into the ground.

Shira's POV

I watched Diego trying to catch Sid, and couldn't help thinking how pathetic it was that a male sabre couldn't catch a common ground sloth. It reminded me of... someone I used to know. Let's just say that. I could feel my eyes watering as I thought about my brother and best friend. Weirdly, my best friend was never in my pack... ha. Our packs were deadly enemies! But me and my brother didn't care about that, we just liked her for herself, her pack wasn't a concern at all. My mother never cared about it either, she just wanted her kids to be happy. And we were. Until I got kicked out...

* * *

Normal POV

"Oh, gosh, this ledge is slippery!" gasped Peaches. Aztec bounded ahead of her, free as the wind.

"C'mon Peach, it isn't that bad!"

"Yeah, maybe not for you Aztec, the little sabre cub! Meanwhile I, a teenage mammoth, am finding it very difficult!"

Aztec chuckled, even though Peaches was serious and he knew it. He just found the sight of a mammoth trying to take the same route as a sabre cub up the back of a waterfall very amusing. They were climbing to see if Carmen was hiding in the cave at the back of Sparkly Falls, because that was one of her favourite places in the world. She said so on numerous occasions. Little did Aztec and Peaches know, someone was waiting for them in the cave...

?'s POV

"I can't believe my ears!" she said, her voice echoing around the cave.

"Shh!" I hiss, hitting her on the arm.

"Ow!"

"Shh!" I hit her again, really lightly. Well, I think it was lightly...

"OW!"

"SHUT UP!" I exploded in the end.

"Hello?" called the mammoth cautiously, at the entrance of the cave now.

"Holy -" I looked at her angry face, waiting for me to finish, just waiting to yell at me again "Crab. There, no bad language! Happy now?""

"No, you blew our cover! You shouldn't be so loud!"

"OH, I'M LOUD!"

"Who's there?" asked the mammoth.

"Yes. Yes you are."

* * *

Normal POV

Two figures slunk out of the shadows, the larger one slightly ahead. Peaches backed away, then remembered that there was a long drop into a huge plunge-pool behind her and Aztec.

"We're trapped!" hissed Peaches in terror.

"Duh!" Aztec rolled his eyes at his cousin.

"Attitude, attitude!" tutted the larger figure.

"Don't be mean! He's only a little cub!" the smaller figure defended Aztec.

"Shut it, Mary! Oh, shi-"

"Please, Miss Mary, and Miss Mary's friend!" begged Peaches, interrupting the other figure at exactly the right moment "Please don't hurt us!"

"Of course we won't hurt you!" said Mary sweetly, before looking at her friend "Well... _I _won't hurt you!"

"Hey! I can be nice!" retorted whoever the other person was. Sick of not knowing, Aztec boldy asked,

"So, we know Miss Mary now, but what's your name?" he pointed at the other figure with his paw.

"Why should I tell you?" was the sour answer he got. Mary stepped out of the shadows, revealing her pale orange fur and light green eyes. Peaches mentally noted that she was a sabre.

"That's Elliot. He's pretty crusty round the edges but he's not bad when you get past that bitterness."

"Mary!"

"See, we're not past the bitterness yet!"

"Mary! When I said 'Mary!' I meant stop talking!"

Mary rolled her eyes at Elliot.

"Come on now, what harm could they do?" She smiled warmly at Peaches and Aztec. In fact, it was that warm smile that stopped Aztec from showing both pf the new sabres just what harm he could do.

"Okay, fine." agreed Elliot grudgingly. He stomped out of the shadows, with a sulky expression on his face. His fur was a white as Shira's, but his eyes weren't quite as blue and peircing. And, of course, he didn't have earrings.

"Woah, Elliot! You look just like this other sabre in our herd!" exclaimed Peaches.

"Yeah, you look just like my Mommy!" agreed Aztec "But not as girly."

"Gee, thanks!" replied Elliot sarcastically, missing the obvious. But Mary didn't. _A white sabretooth with black stripes and blue eyes, _thought Mary, _That sounds a lot like -_

"Hey, Miss Mary?" Peaches interrupted the sabre's train of thought.

"Oh, what, yeah? Oh, and stop calling me 'Miss Mary'! It makes me feel old!"

"Sorry, we're just trying to be formal..." apologized Peaches, forgetting her question.

"It's okay, but if you're gonna be formal - which I'd prefer you didn't! - it's Marisol, not Miss Mary, okay?"

"Marisol. Got it."

"Thanks. So hey, what were you gonna say to me?"

"Have you seen a little sabre cub around here today? Same size as Aztec here, same fur as... Elliot! That's it! Sorry, just forgot your name for a second there!"

Elliot rolled his eyes with a 'I couldn't care less about you two and that stupid cub' look on his face.

"S'okay, I don't know yours either."

"Well, obviously, we haven't told you our names yet!" pointed out Aztec, very matter-of-factly.

"Shut up..." muttered Elliot, looking down. Peaches tried not to giggle, but needn't have worried. Mary burst out laughing, not even trying to control it. Peaches wondered if they were brother and sister. Sure, they looked completely different, but so did Aztec and Carmen... CARMEN! It suddenly dawned on Peaches how urgent it was to find that cub.

"So... why're you asking around for little... uhm, what's the cub's name?" asked Mary, recovering from her laughing fit.

"Carmen. And we're looking for her because she's his sister-" Peaches pointed at Aztec with her trunk "- and their parents are going to eat me for luch if they find out she's lost!"

Elliot looked up, confused.

"Why would they eat you if they find out?"

"Because I'm babysitting them!"

"Wait... you're babysitting them? A mammoth baysitting sabres?"

"Yeah, we know it's messed up!" sighed Peaches. She was getting really sick of explaining her herd to people!

"So, you're babysitting two kids, and one's missing?" Mary looked at Peaches skeptically.

"I said I was their babysitter - I didn't say I was good at it!"

Mary and Elliot mumbled their agreements.

"Well, sorry. Haven't seen her. Off you go." Elliot dismissed them with a wave of his paw. Mary punched him in the shoulder, a stern expression on her face.

"He's right, we haven't seen her... but we will help you look!" promised Mary.

"We will?"

"Yes, Elliot. We will!"

Elliot didn't dare argue when Mary used that tone.

"Okay, okay. We'll help."

Mary smiled smugly "Good".

And with that, Peaches, Aztec, Marisol and Elliot carefully climbed back down Sparkly Falls.

* * *

"Mr. Buuuuuck... can't we rest for a biiiiit?" whined Carmen for the millionth time, as she followed the weasel up the big mountain.

"Do you want to see your family and friends again fast? Coz it's either-or, little 'un!"

Carmen groaned. She wanted to see her friends and family again really badly, but she SO wanted to rest! _Moral decisions are hard, _she thought to herself.

"Okay, we'll keep going!" she sighed eventually, deciding she wanted her Mommy more than she wanted to rest. Buck mouthed 'Thank-you!' up at the sky. As fond as he was of Diego's daughter, she was starting to do his head in with the whining and complaining. Finally, they reached a ledge that had many Pterodactyls perched on it. Buck leapt onto one, holding a vine in his hand, and setting it up like a rein again.

"Hop aboard!" he called, cheerfully. Carmen stepped cautiously onto the dinosaur's back, not really sure it was safe.

"Hold on tight!" said Buck, but he didn't need to bother. Carmen had sunk her claws into the creature's back as soon as she got on, out of pure terror. Buck yanked the reins hard, and the dinosaur squawked before taking off into the air. Buck yelled wildly, while Carmen screramed in fear. Buck controlled the Pterodactyl with the vine, directing it towards the hole that Carmen had fallen through when she first arrived.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" squealed Carmen, trying not to look down. Buck looked over his shoulder at her and shook his head.

"No, I've never actually had any proper training at this!"

"WHAT!" squeaked the little cub. She closed her eyes and thought her farewells to her family. She only opened them when she heard Buck yell,

"Going up!"

The Pterodactyl swooped upwards, targetting the hole in the sky. Carmen closed her eyes again, petrified. She felt the wind whistle past her fur, and prayed she wouldn't have a gruesome or painful death. She was shocked out of her fearful thoughts when she heard Buck's words,

"Okay, jump when I tell you to!"

"JUMP!"

"Yes! Jump when I say!"

"No way!"

"Jump now!"

Thinking she would probably lose her life anyway, Carmen jumped off the dinosaur's back, not even opening her eyes until Buck screamed at her,

"Don't forget to look where you're falling, Carmen!"

Her eyes snapped open and she mananged to shift her weight to the side in time to avoid collision with a large rock. She lay on the familiar grass, panting in relief. She was home! _Right, _she thought after catching her breath, _Time to go find Peaches! _

"C'mon Mr. Bcuk!" she called out delightedly "Time to find my family!"

Buck scrambled to his feet, rubbing his sore head. He'd landed quite hard on it when he fell, but to keep the cub happy, he was willing to find the herd.

"Okay, where do ya think they'd be?"

Carmen thought for a moment.

"Sparkly Falls."

And they ran off to find Peaches and Aztec.

* * *

"- And then there's Uncles Sid, Crash and Eddie. Sid's a sloth, and Crash and Eddie are possums."

Peaches had been explaining the herd to Marisol and Elliot.

"So... that it?" asked Elliot hopefully. The herd was confusing him, and he hated being confused.

Peaches shook her head.

"No, there's two more, and their sabres!"

"My parents!" announced Aztec, with great pride. His ex-pirate mother and his death-defying father had always impressed him immensely.

"Yeah, his parents. Diego and Shira."

"SHIRA?!" exclaimed Mary and Elliot in unison. They both knew that name all too well.

"Yeah... she's the newest member of our herd. Not counting Granny and the cubs, of course!" added in Peaches. Elliot gazed into the distance.

"Shira..." he breathed the name "I always did wonder how she turned out..."

Before anyone could respond, a familiar little voice reached their ears.

"Peaches!" said Carmen "Aztec!"

"CARMEN!" shrieked Peaches, running to the cub slowly emerging from the trees. But Peaches stopped short when she saw a long brown weasel with a leaf eyepatch sprawled across Carmen's back.

"Made a new friend?" asked Peaches, glancing at Buck.

"Don't remember me?" teased Buck, smiling at the mammoth "Well, I remember you. You were so cute, so small back then. Looked just like your Mother. Still do, as well!"

Memories surged to the forefront of Peaches' mind.

"Buck?" she whispered, as Aztec, Mary and Elliot advanced.

* * *

The tribe moved swiftly through the trees, Roshan cursing under his breath. He still hadn't found his beloved, and they had been searching all day.

"Roshan!" Kunta called "Roshan! Perhaps we should hunt a little, take our minds off things?"

Secretly, Kunta just felt like killing something; he was angry that he'd lost the tiger kill from the other day, so he wanted to kill another animal. But Roshan wouldn't support this, so Kunta had to lie. Roshan nodded.

"Alright, let's look for some animals."

"But Daddy, isn't it wrong to kill animals?" asked Zuri, stroking Hanna (another tribe-wolf). Kunta shook his head.

"Well, 'course it's not, Zuri! Animals are beasts!"

Zuri shrunk back from her father's wrath, not agreeing at all. Roshan halted the tribe suddenly, whispering,

"I've found some!"

"What animals have you found, Roshan?" asked Kunta eagerly, crouching in the bushes and gesturing for the others to do the same.

"Two adult sabres, two young sabres that're probably their cubs, a weasel, and a mammoth."

"A mammoth!" exclaimed Zuri excitedly. She'd never seen a mammoth before, and was very enthusiastic about her chance to. Her father shushed her quickly, and made her sit down.

"What's our plan, Roshan?"

"ATTACK!"

Roshan ran forward, and everyone else followed. Carmen, Aztec, Peaches squeaked in terror, an Mary leapt back, so basically Elliot was the only one actually ready to take on the hunters. Of course, he couldn't take down all those hunters alone, and Chisai, the most agile hunter, took him down with his bare hands. He was just about to tie Elliot up with rope when Peaches boldly charged into him, yelling at Elliot to run. He did as he was told, screaming at Mary to run as well. Ross, Chisai's son, jumped on the cubs, taking them both down; and Buck with them. His mother, Ava, proudly tied up Buck and the cubs.

"KUNTA!" shouted Roshan "Me and Dormen will take Hanna and Redser and go find those sabres. Upon seeing their family captured, Mary and Elliot had finally taken notice of Peaches' continuing cries of "Run! Get help!" and had fled. Peaches herself had now been forced to the ground by Kunta and Chisai.

"Okay, but watch out!" replied Kunta, struggling with Peaches who, despite being tied down, was managing to be very difficult. Roshan, Dormen, Hanna and Redser ran out into the wilderness, in search of the two sabres. Zuri and Ravi stood on the sidelines, watching. Just watching.

******Wow! That took so long to write! Sorry about the length, just got carried away again! So... what did you guys think? How do you think Elliot and Marisol know Shira? What do you think will happen to Peaches and co. during their capture? If you can think of anymore questions, good on you, because that's all I can think of. Oh, right, what do you think is wrong with Leanne? Okay, please R&R!**

******Thanks a lot! Oh, and if anything confused you, just ask me about it and I'll clear it up in an Author's Note at the start of the next chapter, kk? Thanks! :)**


	8. Getting Help

**WOO-HOO! Chapter 8 already! :) :) :) I've got lots of ideas for this, story, and other stories involving the characters from this one, but I'm gonna finish this first because 1. Spoilers, and 2. I don't think I'm actually organized enough to post two incomplete stories at once. Oh well. And now for something that constantly annoys me but I must put on every single chapter of this story for reasons I don't fully understand...**

**The ********Disclaimer!: I do not own Ice Age or the characters, except Rowan, Kisi, Kunta, Ravi, Zuri, Aztec and Carmen (even though I got their names from other characters) and, even though not all of them are in this chapter,******** Elliot, Liza, Max, Marisol, Richie, Emily, Gwen and Nathan. Don't worry about all of those ones for now, I don't think they're all gonna end up in this chapter anyway, just wanted to include them all in case they are. I also came up with Dormen, but my mum gave me the name. I suppose Redser, Hanna, Loretta and Leanne are technically mine too, but they're not a main characters.**

Two sabres ran through the thick forest, a pair of hunters and a pair of wolves following them.

"They're right behind us!" panted Elliot, swerving to avoid a bush.

"Ya don't think I know that?" snapped Marisol, leaping over a fallen log and scratching her front paws. They were throbbing slightly, but she couldn't stop to lick them; the hunters would catch her.

"Don't need the sass, Mary!"

She rolled her eyes in a very 'I don't care' manner and muttered "Shut up!"

One of the hunters tripped over a tree-root and fell on the ground, knocking over one of the tribe-wolves in the process.

"Dormen! You idiot!" grunted the other hunter, slapping his own forehead in agitation.

"I can't get up, Roshan sir!" claimed the hunter named 'Dormen' "I think my ankle's broken!"

Roshan made a noise rather like a sabre's growl, but still bent to help his friend. While all this was going on, the two tigers ran away into the forest. After several minutes, they felt sure the hunters were back on their trail. They ran and ran, completely lost and out of breath, but having no choice but to keep on going. Either that or die. A good half hour later, they found a fork in the trees. They didn't need any assistance to choose which path; one already had sabre tracks down it. They hurried down the right one, which was blissfully track-free. Several minutes afterwards, Roshan, Dormen and the tribe-wolves arrived at the fork. They stopped and Roshan glared at the paths before them, which were both lined with tiger tracks. Unsure of what to do, they stood awkwardly and thought things over.

* * *

"Tighten the vines, that cub's gonna get loose!" ordered Kunta, pointing his finger at the squirming orange cub.

"Yes, sir!" replied Chisai, grabbing at the vines that were wrapped around Aztec's little body and pulling them tighter. Zuri and Ravi watched in horror.

"Daddy, stop!" exclaimed Zuri, eyes wide with fear "That's too tight!"

"Yes!" agreed Ravi "The poor little tiger cub cannot breathe!"

"Nonsense," said Kunta, dismissing their worries with a wave of his hand "He's just fine."

"Here, Ravi, hold this while I sort out the other two creatures." Chisai shoved Aztec into Ravi's arms. Ravi rocked him gently, murmuring to him in a sweet, comforting way. Zuri suddenly had an idea.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy! Can I _please_ hold the other cub?" begged Zuri, her hands clasped together and her eyes wide and adorable.

"Aww, how sweet!" cooed Kunta, patting her on the head "Of course you can, darling!"

He tightened the vines around Carmen's small figure and passed her to his daughter, who cradled her with a sisterly love. In fact, when her father wasn't looking, Zuri even kissed Carmen's head and whispered "Don't worry, I'll protect you!"

"Why, you're a fiesty one!" came Chisai's voice. He was trying to tighten the vines around Buck, but had underestimated the weasel's fight and spirit. Everyone watched with secret amusement as Chisai struggled with the weasel. Zuri and Ravi held the two cubs in such a way that they could see Chisai's complete failure. Finally, he managed to restrain the weasel enough for a child to hold him.

"Here you go, my son," he said, handing Buck to a very smug Ross "You may hold this one."

"Thank-you Daddy!" Ross smiled sweetly. But as soon as the adults all turned their full attention to Peaches, who was being particulary difficult, an evil smirk came across Ross's face. "Haha! I got the coolest one!" he jeered, holding Buck in one hand and pounding the air with the other. Seeing the worry in the cubs' eyes, Zuri stepped in.

"Ross! You're holding him wrong!" she exclaimed "You're hurting him!"

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"You are!" insisted Zuri, tucking Carmen under one arm and trying to fix Ross's grip on Buck, without success.

"I'm holding it fine!" protested Ross stubornly, refusing to believe she was right and not allowing her to help the animal at all.

"Ugh!" sighed Zuri in exasperation "Let me hold him!"

And without waiting for any kind of response, she reached out and snatched Buck away from Ross and hugged him to her chest. Ross pouted and folded his arms.

"Not fair! You've already got one!" complained Ross, stamping his foot.

"Oh, waa-waa!" mocked Zuri "Get over it, baby, coz nothin' is changin'!"

"DADDY!" wailed Ross. Chisai and Kunta looked up from the mammoth they had just knocked unconcious with rocks.

"Uh-oh!" hissed Zuri "RUN!"

And she ran into the forest carrying Carmen and Buck. Suddenly caught up on what was going on, Ravi hurried after his sister, holding Aztec firmly but friendly.

"KIDS!" yelled Kunta, his feelings a mix of anger, fear and longing "COME BACK!"

But the kids had no intention to.

* * *

Marisol's POV

We crashed through the trees into the clearing. Literally, we crashed into the trees then fell into the clearing. If you're wondering whether it hurt, it did. A lot. Seriously, do not try that at home! I cannot stress that enough!

Anyway, we lay in this clearing, catching our breath. I licked the cuts on my paws gently, mentally pitying myself. What? Like you've never had something happen to you and then sat there for as long as possible afterwards thinking 'Oh poor me! I deserve pity!' Well, that's exactly what I was doing. Elliot lounged on the ground sniffing the air, yeah I got no idea.

"Why?" I asked, looking at him skeptically. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm trying what scents there are in the air."

"Again, why?"

"Because it will tell us if any animals passed by here earlier!" he snapped.

"Moody..." I muttered under my breath. I gazed around aimlessly, seeing what was there. Seemingly, nothing. I groaned and lay my head on my paws, wincing when I put pressure on the cuts. _Stupid log, _I thought. Suddenly, something caught my eye. A tunnel was being dug underground by some animal; I could tell because a trail of the ground was rising up and coming straight at me... COMING STRAIGHT AT ME! I leapt to my feet and scrambled out of it's way. Elliot looked up at me.

"What's up?" he asked, in a monotone voice "Seen a spider or somethin'?"

I rolled my eyes at him in annoyance.

"No! There's something burrowing underground, and I was moving out of it's way!"

Elliot finally noticed the burrowing thing and dug into the ground, trying to find whatever it was. I kept trying to tell him not to disturb whatever it was, but he ignored me as usual. After a lot of digging and a lot of focus, he managed to catch a little molehog. He held her up proudly, obviously impressed with his catch.

"Aww, she's so sweet!" I cooed softly, gently stroking her back. Don't worry, I retracted my claws first. The little molehog girl shivered in fear, but relaxed a little when I insisted Elliot let me hold her. I lay on the ground and she curled up in my paws, making her incredibly small and vunerable-looking. I couldn't help smiling at her sweet little face.

"Hello there," I whispered in a soft voice "I'm Marisol, but everyone calls me Mary. What's your name?"

"L-Leanne," she stammered, her eyes wide and fearful.

"Well, L-Leanne," I teased her kindly "It's an absolute pleasure to meet you."

She giggled quietly, and gave me a small smile. I nuzzled my nose against her fur.

"This my friend Elliot," I continued, giving him a look that said 'I'm bringing you into this conversation but you have to be nice or I'll kick you out again!' "Are you all alone out here, Leanne?"

She nodded gently.

"No-one even knows I'm out here," she whispered, so quiet I could hardly hear her.

"What do you mean, no-one knows you're here?" asked Elliot, curiousity peaked. Leanne chewed her lip a little before answering,

"My parents were out, and I got into a fight with my brother and sister. No, just my sister. Louis is actually really nice to me unless I team up with Lorrie, then he insults us both at once."

"So you ran out?" I guessed, deep feelings of sympathy flooding my system. She nodded, and her eyes glistened with tears. My own eyes grew wide.

"Oh... oh no, don't cry sweetie, don't cry!" I fretted "Elliot, what do we do?"

"I don't know!" he replied, flustered. I decided it must be up to me.

"Leanne?" I asked tentatively "Leanne, sweetie? C'mon darlin', don't cry now baby, it's all okay! Want us to help you get home, hun?"

She looked up at me hopefully, her fur wet with tears.

"Really?" she asked softly. I nodded.

"Of course! You're little and sweet, but you're vunerable out here alone! I'd never forgive myself if I left you alone out here to make your way home by yourself!"

She smiled gratefully, and kissed the cuts on my paws with love. I smiled back and thanked her, then nuzzled her again. I couldn't help it, she's so cute! Elliot yawned loudly, and I kicked him in the shins. Well, he scared Leanne! What else was I supposed to do?

"Uhm... if you two are tired... I can go by myself..."

"No!" I exclaimed "We'll take you! But, do you think we could just have a little rest first?"

Leanne nodded, and softly asked,

"Would you mind if I stay with you?"

Me and Elliot looked at each-other, wondering if we'd heard her right. Did she seriously just ask whether she could stay with us?

"Of course you can, sweetheart..." my voice trailed off in utter confusion.

"Thank-you!" Leanne hugged my leg and smiled up at me gratefully. I laughed at her eager little face.

"Right, c'mon little 'un, get on my head and we'll find a place to rest."

"Can I really ride on your head?" gasped Leanne in awe. I nodded, stunned that she'd even thought I'd make her walk!

"We'd, uhm... better get going..." I muttered, hoping my voice wouldn't let any of my confusion in "Who knows how long we'll be walking for before we find shelter."

"Er... Mary?" Elliot pointed in the direction of a large, gray, obvious cave embedded in the nearby hill.

"Oh shut up..." I mumbled in aggravation, heading towards the cave, Leanne sitting on my head. Elliot padded after me, and I just knew he was rolling his eyes at me and smiling smugly.

* * *

Zuri and Ravi hurried through the trees, struggling to hold onto the animals they carried.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you're in pain!" muttered Zuri "Just a little longer, okay?"

They ran until they found a large oak tree with a fork in one of the branches. _Jackpot!, _thought Zuri. Her shirt had a fold of fabric at the front which she often used as a pocket. It was that 'pocket' that she slid Carmen and Buck into then, before starting to climb the big tree. She scratched her arms and legs on the rough bark, but she barely noticed. Copying his sister, Ravi tucked Aztec into his 'pocket' and climbed up as well. Both children seated themselves in the fork, carefully lifting the small animals out onto their laps.

"Yes! This is it Ravi! We're finally free!" cheered Zuri, as loudly as she dared.

"Wonderful! So... what do we do now?" asked Ravi, relying on his younger sister to make the decisions.

"Well let's start with loosening these vines so the poor animals can breathe!" decided Zuri, fiddling with the vines restricting Carmen. She loosened them a little too much, and all the vines slid off the cub when she shook herself. Both children gazed in horror at the free sabre cub that lay on Zuri's knees.

"Thank-you, thank-you!" babbled Carmen, licking the grazes on Zuri's arms in gratitude "Thank-you so much!"

"You can talk!" gasped Ravi.

"Yeah, I know!"

"You're so friendly!" exclaimed Zuri, patting the tiger's head.

"Yeah, I know!"

"You are beautiful!" continued Ravi.

"I know! Oops, that sounded much less self-centred in my head..." Carmen's little voice trailed off in embarressment. Ravi was speechless, but Zuri could talk enough for both of them.

"It's okay, I do that loads and loads! Ask anyone!" insisted Zuri, wanting the little sabre child to keep talking "Anyway, I'm Zuri, and that's my brother Ravi. What's your name?"

"Carmen," she answered confidently "That's my brother Aztec, and this is Mr. Buck!"

"Mr. Buck?" repeated Zuri uncertainly "Not to be mean or anything, but 'Buck' is kind of a strange name."

"Buck's only a nickname!" explained Carmen "It's short for Buckminster, and long for Buh!"

Buck tried his best to nod, but didn't really succeed as he couldn't move within the vines. Carmen noticed this and, with her good nature shining through, asked,

"Miss Zuri, Mr. Ravi? Do you think you could please untie Mr. Buck and my brother now please?"

Carmen made sure her eyes were as wide and cute as possible, but the two humans still weren't sure.

"I don't know sweetie, they won't try to escape will they?" asked Zuri tentatively. Carmen shook her head.

"No, they won't. I promise. And I never break a promise!"

"Okay then... but only Mr. Buck!" said Zuri firmly. Carmen's face fell.

"Why not Aztec too?" she asked quietly.

"Because Aztec seems more prone to attacks than Buck does, Carmen!" explained Zuri "It'd probably be safer to keep him restricted until he gets used to us!"

"As the one holding said tiger, I second that!" said Ravi, who was holding Aztec's little orange body at an arm's length.

"Fine."

Carmen lay down on the branch beside Zuri and sulked for a bit, having a Marisol Moment (lying there and pitying herself). Zuri carefully unwound the vines holding Buck, hoping against hope that he was tamer than he appeared. She was out of luck. For as soon as he was untied, Buck scampered up to the very top of the tree, laughing hysterically. Until he heard voices.

"Carmen! You said he wouldn't run away!" Zuri sounded very accusing.

"I didn't think he would..." Carmen sounded heart-broken. Buck couldn't take it. His own heart gave a terrible thump, and a pang of guilt hit him hard. He climbed back down the tree and sat beside the little white tiger cub, muttering something about never forgiving himself. Carmen smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"Zuri... do you think we should free Aztec?" asked Ravi in a soft voice, trying to stop Carmen from hearing. Sadly, both human children were having a terrible day when it came to luck, and she leapt to her feet shouting at him to free her brother. Zuri's hands shot out and caught the over-excited cub mid-air, before pulling her in for a cuddle.

"Calm down, little one!" whispered Zuri soothingly, then she turned to her own brother and said "You can if you want, but if he's gonna maul something, it'll be you!"

Ravi gulped, but Carmen's wide, pleading eyes convinced him. He carefully untied Aztec, then scrambled as far from the sabre as he could in a tree-fork. Aztec wasn't interested at all in Ravi, though. His green eyes were focused on Zuri. His father had taught him to always attack the leader, and clearly she was the leader out of the two. So he sprang at her.

"RAVI!" screamed Zuri, flinging her hands up in front of her face as a useless defense "HELP ME!"

Aztec didn't fatally hurt Zuri (thank goodness!), but he did scrape her wrist pretty bad. Nowhere near bad enough to endanger her life, but 7-year-old Zuri didn't know this.

"I'm gonna die!" she sobbed "I'm gonna die because Aztec cut my wrist!"

Of course, as they were all young, they all believed Zuri was going to die, except for Buck, who was, for once, the one thinking straight.

"Don't worry Zuri, that's no fatal cut!"

"It isn't?" she asked. He shook his head.

"Course not, just a little bit of blood and a touch of pain and stinging, nothing serious!"

"What will we do now that we know Zuri is okay?" asked Ravi.

"We gotta go warn the herd, duh!" said Carmen. She elbowed Aztec, then made a point of looking at Zuri. He finally caught on to his sister's hint.

"Sorry, Zuri!" called Aztec. She muttered something that might've been "Doesn't matter."

"Away we go!" declared Buck, and they set off.

Zuri still wasn't sure about her wrist, but Buck had convinced the others he was right, which he was. But he'd made some pretty big understatements, as later discovered when Zuri began howling in pain because of her wrist.

"Okay, maybe I got the pain part wrong." admitted Buck.

"Ya think?" snapped Zuri.

* * *

Ellie's POV

Diego paced the floor beside Shira, who was making it obvious he was getting on her nerves. Miraculously, Diego didn't seem to notice she had her claws out and was clenching her jaw in anger. Thinking about it, it was actually pretty funny in a way; Rowan was definitely trying not to laugh.

"Can I move yet Rowan?" asked Shira, speaking through gritted teeth.

"Just 10 more minutes!"

"OKAY THAT'S IT!" exploded Shira, jumping to her feet "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

And she ran out into the forest. Rowan laughed evilly to herself.

"Uhm... shouldn't we go after her?" I asked uncertainly. Rowan shook her head.

"Nah, she's a sabretooth, she'll be fine!"

"But will her side be healed?"

"Of course, it's been healed enough for the past half hour, maybe even an hour!"

"Then... why couldn't she move?" asked Diego, finally breaking his pace. Rowan smiled.

"Oh, she could! I was just seeing how long she would stay still, and anyway, it heals better the longer the patient is motionless."

There was a moment of silence. Then, everyone burst out laughing, especially my brothers. Trust them to get an attack of laughter while hanging upside down in a tree over a mud puddle. They laughed a little _too_ hard, not realising that their tails were unwinding from the branch, before face-planting the puddle of mud. And being themselves, they would start a slap-fight over whose fault it was. They were growling, grunting and glaring at each-other, while the rest of the herd stood and smirked at them. After several minutes of slap-fighting, I actually got concerned.

"Alright, stop it you two!" I shouted, only to be ignored "Seriously, don't make me come over there and seperate you guys!"

"Yeah... I'm gonna go find Shira." sighed Diego, walking off into the forest. Sid started walking too.

"Where are _you_ going, Sid?" asked Manny skeptically. Sid turns back, confused.

"I'm gonna go help Diego find his girlfriend!"

"No you are not, sloth!" snapped Diego fiercely "And she's not my girlfriend anymore, she's my mate, remember?"

And with that, he stalked off by himself. Sid turned to go after him, but Manny stopped him.

"Don't Sid, let him go alone!"

"Fine!" agreed Sid grudgingly "But I'm still gonna go look for her!"

Sid marched into the forest, purposely going in the opposite way to Diego. Manny sighed.

"I'd better go after him, make sure he doesn't get eaten or something!"

I nodded numbly, and watched as my own mate followed the irrating sloth. Okay, yeah, I know I'm supposed to be sweet and quirky, but even I have to admit that Sid can be very, uhm, Sid-ish. That's the best way I can describe it. I was just hoping that nobody _would_ end up hurt. Gulp.

**So... TA-DA! What do you think? Please read, review and send in ideas, coz I suck at coming up with ideas. Seriously, the slap-fight in the mud was Dark Fox Tailz. Thank-you!**

**Oh, and I know there are a lot of OC's in this story, so if anyone's confused, please just ask and I'll explain in an Author's Note. Okay? Thanks a lot! Yeah, and I've got nothing else to write here so... I guess I'm done! :)**


	9. Reunion-ish

**Heyy, I'm back again! OMG thanks for reading and reviewing this story, it's just passed 2,000 views! Just to say, sorry these chapters are so long, I just get absorbed in the story! But don't worry, I'm planning for this to be the last extremely long chapter, so they should be shorter soon :) Hopefully it'll get easier to write this soon, coz the characters are coming back together in little groups, so I'll be able to write about all of them at once! Phew! :) Oh, yeah...**

**...Disclaimer!: I do not own Ice Age or the characters except for... well, you know who I came up with and I'm sick and tired of writing all their names and everything. If you can't remember them, just look on Chapters 7 & 8 coz it's there. Okay, story time! By the way, some more OC's in this chapter, but I already put their names in the disclaimer on 7&8 so it doesn't matter really.**

Two little cubs wandered aimlessly through the forest. One, the male, had dark grey fur with startlingly pale stripes. The other, the female, had sandy-coloured fur, and was surprisingly taking the lead.

"Wait up, Emily!" called the male, panting.

"_Keep _up, Max!" answered Emily, giggling softly to herself. She loved him really, he was just fun to tease sometimes. The two cubs had known each-other their entire lives, and had become BFFTTEOT (Best Friends Forever Till The End Of Time). Currently, they were lost in the forest.

"We should've just stayed in the cave..." muttered Max.

"I heard that!"

"Sorry, Em. I'm just tired, that's all."

"Yeah, tired and scared!" teased Emily, so she was surprised when Max nodded in agreement.

"You're right, I am. I'm terrified, to be honest." he admitted carelessly. Emily looked confused.

"That's not like a male sabre to admit they're afraid!" she commented before she could stop herself. Max shrugged.

"Don't care. We're lost in the forest, we're all alone and our parents don't even know we ever left the cave so I really don't see why I shouldn't be scared!"

"Okay, good point."

Max's father and Emily's mother had gone out to hunt together, as they had been best friends for as long as they could remember and thoroughly enjoyed each-other's company. They'd been gone a long time, so Liza (Max's mother) and Richie (Emily's father) had gone to try and find them. Being the young, curious and impatient cub she is, Emily had gotten bored after 5 minutes or so, and insisted that they go and help to, despite Max's protests. But as usual, Max caved in to his best friend's wishes, and they set out. They started by following tracks, but took several wrong turns and ended up lost, cold and alone. And then, well, you know the rest.

"Hey... did you just hear something?" asked Emily, after a moment of silence. Max shook his head.

"I didn't hear anything."

"Guess I'm just imagining things..."

A dull thudding could be heard in the distance, but it was definitely coming closer.

"Okay, now I hear it!"

Cautiously, Emily padded to the edge of the small clearing that the young cubs had recently entered. Max followed, walking extra-slow but not wanting to abandon his companion completely. Emily spotted a lare brown furry thing with white tusks coming closer and closer. She thought she could just make out a yellow-ish blob of colour beside the colossal brown thing.

"Can you see anything?" asked Max softly, trying not to let his fear into his voice.

"M-m-m..."

"What?"

"M-m-ma..."

"WHAT?"

"MAMMOTH!" spat out Emily, eyes wide with fear. Forgetting for a moment that they were sabretooths, the cubs ran screaming to the other end of the clearing, hiding in a large, leafy bush. Both trembled with fear. A mammoth. Max wrapped his arms around Emily protectively. He wasn't much of a fighter; but it was a male's duty to protect the female, even if they weren't mates. Emily hugged him back, shivering with fright. They waited silently, as the mammoth's thudding footsteps came closer, and closer, and closer...

* * *

"So Manny," said Sid, sick of the silence that had been looming over the two friends for a while now, due to the fact Manny was seriously mad at him for not just leaving Diego to find Shira by himself "When're we gonna migrate to the new cave?"

"Sid, do you really think that we'll be ready to go to that cave anytime soon?"

Sid, being, well, Sid, didn't quite pick up on Manny's point.

"Why aren't we ready... what's wrong with the new cave?"

"Nothing, you idiot!" snapped Manny, losing his patience for a moment before regaining his temper.

"Then why can't we migrate?"

"SID!"

"What? What did I say?"

"We can't migrate coz of Shira's injury!"

"But, she's better now. Isn't she?" Sid gazed up at his mammoth friend with utter confusion. He could've sworn Rowan had said Shira was better now before they left the tree-prison. Manny rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, she is. But do you really think Diego's gonna let her migrate to the other side of the island in the near future after that?"

"Hmm... I see your point." After a moment, Sid added "Diego's over-protective of her."

Manny shrugged.

"He almost lost her to Gutt. I guess he's just scared he'll lose her again."

"But still, doesn't he even notice how much he's been bugging her lately?"

"Apparently not." Manny thought about how he had felt all those years ago, back before he met Ellie, before he'd even met Sid, back when he'd recently lost a mate and child "He's only over-protective coz he loves her, Sid."

There was an air of tension that even Sid could sense, which also meant another descending silence. The two mammals had now wandered into a clearing that consisted of an old, gnarled tree laden with acorns, the odd patch of flowers and several bushes. One bush in particular caught Manny's eye. It was the biggest of them all, and still failed to completely hide the two creatures behind it. Even if the size of the bush hadn't given them away, the regular rustling would have. Carefully, Manny walked over to said bush, and parted the leaves, to reveal two sabre cubs. They looked similar to Carmen and Aztec, but were definitely not the same cubs. For starters, the female was sandy-coloured and the male was dark grey, and although the male seemed to have pushed the girl behind him for protective, he shivered with fright at the large mammoth that stood before him.

"Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you." Manny tried to assure the two cubs, but failed epicly. Sid took a shot as well.

"Who are you?"

Neither cub knew what to say. Obviously, they couldn't just tell these strange animals their real names, but they needed to answer with something. Suddenly, Emily remembered a discussion she'd once had with her mother:

_"Momma?"_

_"Yes, Em?"_

_"You know how you and Daddy always say never to talk to strangers?"_

_"Yeah, what about it?"_

_"Well, say a stranger does talk to you. What do you say?"_

_"Hmm... well, if they just start talking to you about anything, just don't answer."_

_"But what if they ask questions?"_

_"Well, my old best friend had a very good solution to that one!" Mary chuckled as she remembered Shira's funny ways when they were teens "Anytime a stranger asked her a question, she'd say 'Me don't know, me don't tell, me annoy you to H-E-L-L!' Used to drive them up the wall!"_

_"But Momma, isn't that a naughty word?"_

_"Not if you spell it, and certainly not to a stranger, Em!"_

_"Okay Momma!"_

Smiling to herself, Emily looked the mammoth and the sloth in the eyes and said boldly,

"Me don't know, me don't tell, me annoy you to H-E-L-L!"

Manny and Sid stepped back, confused. Max just gawped at her in amazement. She smirked cheekily at the two strangers, mentally thanking her Auntie Shira (who she'd never met), for coming up with such an amusing little phrase.

"I have no answer to that..." Sid's voice trailed off. Manny sighed in frustration as he looked at the little tigress's smug smile. _This is gonna take a while, _he thought.

* * *

Shira padded through the forest, not thinking about where she was going, not really caring. She had nothing against Diego, Rowan or the herd, she just wanted some time alone. So as you can probably imagine, she was not best pleased when she heard footsteps behind with calls of "Shira! Shira!"

"Oh for crying out loud! Is five minutes alone so much to ask?!" she muttered to herself, before picking up the pace and striding further into the trees. Pretty soon, she noticed a small tree stump covered with little claw marks. _Good, _she thought happily, _That's the kids' favourite place to practice attacks. I know where I am now! Just a little further and I'll be at our cave. _

"Shira!" she heard her mate call again. She rolled her eyes, thought certain things about a certain sabre and ran as fast as she could. Obviously, as there were so many plants and bushes, she couldn't help crashing into a lot of them and making noise. Noise which Diego, not too far behind, could hear, showing him exactly where she was. Frantically, he ran after his mate, thinking she was in danger.

* * *

Leanne's POV

I woke up and rubbed my eyes sleepily, wondering where on Earth I was. I seemed to be in some kind of cave, which confused me because normally I associate caves with predators and stay well away from them. I could hear heavy breathing, and it appeared to be coming from underneath me, and to the side. _Okay... I'm in a random cave, and I can hear heavy breathing, _I thought to myself, _Well this can't be good. _I risked a glance to the side... then instantly wished I hadn't. A white sabretooth with black stripes lay beside me, deep in sleep but still managing to look incredibly scary. Instinctively, I hid my face in the first thing I could: the soft thing I'd fallen asleep on. _That's weird, _I thought, _Whatever this is feels kinda... furry. What is this? It smells sort of sabre-ish, but that might just be because it's next to a sabre. It's breathing, so it must be alive, but wouldn't it be scared next to a tiger? Unless... oh no! _

Suddenly, the truth dawned on me. I'd fallen asleep on a sabretooth's head! How could I have been so stu- oh, yeah. I'd met these two before, probably not even an hour earlier. Or maybe it was two hours, or three... oh well, I never was any good with time. Anyway, once I realised who the sabres were I, well, to be honest, I felt like a complete idiot for forgetting my new friends in such a short amount of time. Just as I was busy slapping myself on the forehead and calling myself a moron, I heard voices. No, I was not losing my mind and randomly hearing voices that weren't there (even though that did cross my mind at first)! But seriously, there were voices, and they sounded like they were coming from the clearing just in front of the cave. A growl rang out.

"Oh great," I mumbled under my breath "More sabres!"

"-it's unfair that I'm getting punished for caring about you!"

"Oh _you're _complaining about things being unfair?! You're not the one being stalked by an extremely over-protective mate!"

"I only followed you out here because I was worried!"

"Yeah, that something totally unrealistic would happen! Like a meteor would crash into the Earth, or there would be an earthquake and the ground would open up causing me to fall into that Dinotopia you guys talk about all the time!"

"Okay, I'll admit the meteor thing is a bit far-fetched but the Dinotopia part that could happen!"

"What colour is the sky in your world Diego? Dinosaurs are extinct! As in they no longer exist!"

"They do exist in Dinotopia we've been over this Shira!"

Shira? My ears pricked up when I heard that name. Partly because it's an interesting and unusual name, but mostly because I vaguely remembered a conversation between me, Marisol and Elliot that happened earlier, just before we went to sleep:

_"So... Leanne," asked Marisol, although she'd been telling me over and over to call her Mary "Don't you have family other than your parents who'll be worried about you?"_

_Elliot rolled his eyes at Mary and gave me that 'I'm so sorry about her!' look._

_"What?!" demanded Mary, clearly in the dark about what was going on._

_"Mary she said about half an hour, maybe an hour ago that she had a brother and sister." Elliot reminded his friend. Mary muttered something that sounded like "Oh shut up!" I giggled softly, deciding I quite liked these sabres, as they were nice._

_"But she does have a point, Leanne. Won't your brother and sister be worried that you're gone?"_

_"No, I don't think they will. Well, Louis might be a little bit worried, but Loretta certainly won't be!" My voice faltered when I spoke of how little my slightly older sister cared about me. We're twins for goodness sake, you'd think she'd actually care tuppence for me! Elliot and Mary both looked confused._

_"Your sister won't care..." Mary's voice trailed off. I shook my head sadly, tears forming in my eyes. I just about heard Mary whisper to Elliot "If you just heard a loud crack that was my heart breaking!" I swallowed nervously, trying to think of something to say._

_"It's not that bad..." I tried to convince them "Seriously, they're both fairly good siblings, Louis especially."_

_Neither of the sabres seemed to believe me. They both had that look on their face. You know, that look that turns your legs to jelly and rises the temperature of wherever you are to like, a billion degrees making you feel really uncomfortable and sweaty._

_"It's just," Elliot appeared at a loss for words "If anything happened to my little sister, I'd freak!"_

_Mary laughed heartily, snapped out of her 'broken-heart' trance at once. Elliot glared at her._

_"Sorry Elliot! It's just, if you knew how much your sister used to complain about the over-protectiveness you'd think it was this funny as well, trust me!"_

_Elliot strode up to the laughing sabretooth with a feirce look in his eyes._

_"I don't regret being over-protective of her, Marisol! If anything, I wish I'd been _more _protective of her! Maybe then I wouldn't have lost her..."_

I felt a pang of remorse as I remembered Elliot's face when he said that. It just crumbled from threatening to devastation. I thought his sister must've been dead, but hearing that name, and that attitude... just they way Mary described her. As if on cue to tell me my suspicions were correct, Elliot murmured in his sleep "Shira... I miss you Shira..."

"Drop dead Diego!" snapped a voice, which was following by angry footsteps. Yes, footsteps are capable of portraying emotion! Anyways, I was considering waking Mary and Elliot, but remembered something I once heard about sabres being extremely grumpy when they are woken up. It didn't matter anyway, coz I didn't get the choice. A shout of "SHIRA!" followed by a furious roar woke both tigers up straight away. Both leapt to their feet in unison, which confused a small part of my brain as they did it at exactly the same time, before racing out of the cave into the clearing. They stopped short when they saw what was going on. An orange male sabre was pinning a female sabre who looked almost identical to Elliot against the ground. The tigress had earrings, which startled me, as it was not a typical sight, but it had an even bigger effect on Mary and Elliot. Mary stared at the female.

"Is that..."

"No, it can't be..."

"Yes, it is." They both looked at me (well, Mary sort of couldn't because I was on her head, but she tried her best). Then they looked at the female again. I have to admit, the way they move their heads completely in sync like that is soo freaky!

"Shira..." breathed Elliot, taking a slow step toward her. Then, he snapped back into his senses, saw his sister was being attacked, and pounced at the orange male.

"WAIT!" I cried, but to no avail. Elliot was already knocking Diego into the ground.

* * *

Shira's POV

I growled and roared at him, trying in vain to throw him off.

"Diego get off me!" I shouted furiously, slamming my paws into his stomach. He grunted but pushed down on my shoulders again.

"Shira what's wrong with you to-" Diego began, but was quickly cut off. Another sabre, with the same pelt as me, had pounced on him and had him pinned the same way I had been moments ago. I lay there, stunned, unable to think straight. I heard Diego screaming my name, but I just couldn't get past how familiar his attacker looked. The white fur with black stripes, the blue eyes, could it be? _No, that's impossible!, _I thought, _I haven't seen him since I joined Gutt's crew, when I was fourteen! It's not him, it can't be! _Just then, I noticed a red scar down the sabre's arm. _Wait, _I thought, _I know that scar! Elliot..._

"Elliot. Elliot! ELLIOT!" I yelled as I ran towards the wrestling tigers. I pounced at Elliot, who was unsurprisingly pinning Diego down (Elliot always was the strongest male in our pack, not counting our father of course, so I'd have expected that anyway!), knocking my brother to the ground.

"What the- SHIRA!" exclaimed Elliot, his eyes widening "It really is you!"

He leaned up and licked my face lovingly. I smiled and licked him back. He smiled up at me.

"Fancy letting me stand up again now, little sis?" he asked me, his eyes glowing with happiness. I laughed at him, pretended to consider it, then shook my head.

"Nah, I'm good at the minute."

Diego cleared his throat behind me. I rolled my eyes but looked over my shoulder.

"Yes?" I asked him, with a clipped tone. He glared at me.

"Who. Is. He?" Diego managed to say through gritted teeth.

"My brother, Elliot." I answered in the same tone of voice. He pulled a face at me, which I instantly returned. I heard another very purposeful cough, but it was coming from behind Diego. He turned around revealing yet another sabre, this time with sandy-coloured fur and teeth the same length as mine (so shorter than a male sabre's), who was grinning triumphantly at us all.

"What?" we asked as a group. Suddenly, it dawned on me just who the other sabre was. My eyes widened.

"Mary?" I asked uncertainly. I never would've believed it was her (I come from like, the other side of the world to Diego and the herd, so I don't think it would make sense for her to appear on Origin Island), but I did have my older brother Elliot pinned against the ground, so I was expecting the unexpected if you know what I mean. She smiled back at me and nodded.

"In the flesh, Shiz!" she answered me, using the old nickname I had when I was a kid. Diego looked at me with that 'Help me!' expression on his face. I giggled.

"Diego, this is my best friend Marisol, or Mary, as she prefers to be called."

"Okay..." he sounded unsure. I smiled at him, and laughed gently.

"Yeah it's kinda, wait a minute, I'm mad at you!" I suddenly remembered I was ticked off with him. There was an awkward pause as no-one knew what to say.

"Uhm, so... what happened after you left? You know, in your life and stuff." Mary attempted to make conversation.

"Oh well I sort of wandered around the forest for a bit, then I became a pirate-"

"A pirate?!" gasped Elliot.

"Long story. So anyway, I was a pirate for, uhm, lots of years, and then one day when I was at sea me and my crew ran into Diego and some of his herd-"

"Herd?" interrupted Mary.

"Another long story, now stop interrupting! As I was saying, we ran into them and, well, that's yet another long story which I'll have to explain at some other time, but to cut it short Diego helped me realise I didn't want to be a pirate anymore and I became part of their herd." I finally finished. Although they didn't interrupt again, I knew they were surprised, because Mary and Elliot both had that 'No way!' look on their faces.

"Wow," said Elliot, after a few moments of awkward silence "That's, uhm, different."

I nodded and hopped off him, finally letting him get up again. He smiled and nodded his thanks. Another awkward silence. Man, I hate those! So, uhm, what was I saying? Oh yeah, no-one had any idea what to say, so I randomly said the first thing that popped into my head. Actually, it had been stuck in my head since the moment I saw my brother pinning Diego.

"Do you guys, uhm, want to meet the herd?" I asked nervously, afraid they'd laugh or say no or something like that. Diego was shaking his head and mouthing 'Don't ask them! Don't ask them!' but just coz he's my mate doesn't mean he controls me. Besides, since we hadn't actually found the cubs yet, I didn't really need to get along with him right this minute. It was around the time when I was thinking exactly that, when it hit me full on that the cubs were actually missing. I went into panic-mode (What? It's a parent thing!) and basically freaked out.

"WE HAVE TO FIND THE CUBS!" I suddenly shouted, startling the three other sabres and the little molehog who I hadn't noticed perched on my best friend's head. A small part of my brain wondered how on Earth I had managed to miss that, while the rest of it focused solely on my babies and the need to find and protect them.

"We will, Shira, we will!" Diego tried (and failed) to assure me "We'll find them! It'll all work out fine and we'll all be happy and-"

"What, do we live in a fairytale or something?!" I snapped back at him "Happily ever afters don't happen in real life, dude!"

Diego continued to attempt comforting words and soothing stroking while Mary, smart as ever, sat on the sidelines, watching with glee. She knew, as did all the members of my previous pack, that only Elliot can calm me down when I get in a tizzy. Although he was clearly enjoying Diego's failure at calming me down, Elliot stepped in them and proceeded to do the one thing that always calmed me when I got upset. He pressed one paw against my shoulder (which proved I cared about him a lot because if anyone else did that I'd bite their paw off as that's my pressure-point!), and gently kissed the top of my head, whispering "Calm down, lil' sis, calm down." I took a deep breath.

"Okay. I'm good."

Diego looked stunned, which amused Mary quite a lot. He was literally speechless which, as I was extremely mad at him because... actually I'm not sure why but I know I was, was a very nice break from his babbling and complaining and roaring. Sensing the tension, Mary said softly,

"So, this herd you're a part of?"

I nodded, shooting her a 'Thank-you so much!' look. She winked at me, her mouth curving into a smile. Suddenly, I remembered the molehog.

"Hey Mary, who's your little friend?" I asked, smirking at both her and the little creature on her head.

"Hm? Oh, this is Leanne!" Mary smiled up at the newly introduced Leanne, or at least attempted to. Leanne smiled sheepishly at us, and waved ever so gently. I waved back at her, just as timidly, even though the time for appearing timid was long gone, since when Leanne first saw me I must've been struggling against Diego's hold. I could feel myself blushing. Diego, finally broken out of his trance, smirked teasingly at me. I glared back, but I was starting to get over whatever had made me so angry. In fact, as we lead the way to the herd, me and Diego both walked up front, beside each-other. And, I may have 'accidentally' brushed against him a few times as we were walking, and occasionally tripped over the odd stick so he had to support me. Mary rolled her eyes at me, but somehow Elliot managed to not notice. _My silly brother_, I thought to myself, _Always so clueless! _Just then, I spotted a break in the trees.

"There they are!" I heard one of the possums shout. I think it was Crash, but I can't normally tell the difference to be honest. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Leanne freeze, Elliot tense and Mary shuffle closer to me. _This is either gonna be really good, or really bad!, _I thought, _Finger's crossed for the former!_

* * *

Normal POV

Ellie, Crash, Eddie and Rowan (who was holding a sleeping Kisi) watched as Diego and Shira walked into the clearing, with two other sabres behind them. Crash and Eddie leapt up onto their sister's head, while Rowan half-hid behind Ellie. They were all wary of the new tigers, but Ellie didn't want to offend them and therefore didn't hide. Shira didn't waste any time getting to the point.

"Ellie, Crash, Eddie, Rowan, this is my brother Elliot and my best friend Marisol-"

"Mary!"

"Whatever! Anyways, you guys, this is Ellie, Crash, Eddie and the human girl hiding behind Ellie is Rowan."

Rowan blushed sheepishly, and stepped out from behind the mammoth.

"So, uhm, are you guys gonna hang around here for a bit?" asked Ellie, deciding she was the only one likely to speak. Shira smiled gratefully at her.

"Erm... I guess, for a bit, if you want us to..." Mary attempted, but she was slightly intimidated by Ellie and Rowan. And the giant bloodied spear that she could just about see. Ellie had been about to get rid of it when the tigers showed up.

"Of course we want you to!" assured Shira. Diego didn't look sure, but he wasn't about to argue and get on her bad side again. It was right then that Elliot noticed the healing wound on Shira's side.

"Oh man, that looks painful! What happened?" he fretted, stroking his sister's back lovingly. She smiled.

"Long story. I'll tell you tomorrow, it's getting late."

Mary nodded, accepting this as an answer, where as Elliot looked unsure.

"Uhm, yeah, well, I don't think Mary and I can stay overnight."

"Why not?" asked Shira dejectedly. Elliot's eyes widened.

"Oh, uhm, it's just, our families will, erm, be worried, and, you know..."

"Yeah, okay. It was nice, uhm, seeing you guys again."

Diego felt his heart pang with sadness as he watched Shira fight back tears. He wasn't even sure Elliot _had_ a family, but he did have his sister, and she clearly needed him.

"Elliot," said Diego, with as much calm as he could manage "Would you mind going for a short walk?"

Several minutes later, the males returned. Diego was grinning from ear-to-ear, while Elliot looked white even beneath his silvery fur.

"Good news!" annouced Diego "Elliot said that he and Mary can stay until tomorrow morning!"

Shira faked a very excited smile, but glared at her mate when no-one was actually watching. He gave her a 'What did I do?' look which she retaliated with a 'You know perfectly well what you did!' glare.

"Hey, didn't you say something about sloths earlier?" asked Elliot distractedly, glancing around at where he would be spending the night.

"Oh yeah, where are Sid and Granny?" Shira said realising that the sloths were gone. Diego nodded.

"Yeah, and Manny?" he added. Ellie looked confused.

"Well, Granny's asleep in that tree because she was talking about Precious again but I don't think she's sleeping deeply so _please_ whisper! And as for Manny and Sid, they went to find you, Shira." she answered. Shira's eyes narrowed at Diego.

"What!?" she hissed through gritted teeth. Diego looked taken aback.

"No, no! I didn't send them! I told Sid to stay here, and I didn't even know Manny was planning to go anywhere!" he gabbled, worried that she would go into a mood again and refuse to speak to him. She sighed,

"Sorry Diego, it's just, you know."

"Yeah, you're used to independence."

She nodded. All was silent for several moments. Mary swallowed.

"Leanne, you staying with us tonight?" she asked the little molehog who was falling asleep on her head. Leanne nodded drowsily, muttering something that sounded like "If you don't mind."

"Alright, I think it's about time we head off to sleep now, right guys?" said Ellie, plucking her sleeping brothers off her head and hanging them back on their branch. Instinctively, their tails wrapped around the branch. Ellie sighed, her eyes becoming distant.

"Ellie? What's up?" asked Mary kindly, gently placing a paw (claws retraced, of course!) on the mammoth's side in an attempt to provide comfort. Ellie sighed again.

"I just miss my little Peaches."

"Trust me, I know just how you feel." Shira answered, her eyes brimming with tears again. Diego licked the back of her neck lovingly, which thankfully stopped her crying. Elliot and Mary walked to the centre of the clearing and lay down on the ground. Shira looked over but didn't join them. Diego padded away from them slightly and lay down, closing his eyes, so that Shira didn't have to sleep next to him if she didn't want to. But to his relief, he heard footsteps and felt something soft and furry lie down beside him. Her back was against his stomach, so he could wrap his forelegs around her easily and hold her close, which he did. She giggled and snuggled into him. He looked down into her azure eyes and smiled. She licked his lips, and in return he licked her face a few times.

"Okay, goodnight you guys!" called Ellie softly, as she swung herself up onto her tree-branch, hanging by her tail and startling the two new sabres. Shira laughed then replied "Goodnight!", which was met with a chorus of different responses:

"Night, everyone!" - Diego

" *yawn* Goodnight!" - Leanne

"Night you lot!" - Mary

"Goodnight you freaky weirdos! C'mon sis, I'm just kidding!" - Elliot

Then, they all settled down and fell asleep. Well, all but Diego, who lay awake enjoying the fact he could finally hold his mate properly for once, considering he hadn't since he had left to find the winter migration home with Manny, Sid and Granny. Suddenly, he noticed figures on the fringe of the trees. He peered closer, and was confused when he realised they moved the way his own two cubs did. The little figures padded closer, and randomly pounced on him and his mate. Diego stopped Shira from crying out by gently running his tongue over her mouth.

"Yuck! Mommy and Daddy are kissing!" exclaimed the slighter larger figure. Diego squinted, and realised with joy it was his own son Aztec. He caught hold of the little rascal and licked the top of his head.

"And I'm assuming you're my darling little daughter, right?" he asked the other figure, who nodded happily. Shira caught Carmen in her paws and hugged her to her chest.

"Okay, c'mon kiddo's!" said Shira quietly, pressing both her cubs against her side (the unhurt one, she had the healing side against Diego's stomach) "Time for bed!"

They both nuzzled her stomach and quickly fell asleep. Shira smiled at her cubs, then up and her mate.

"Thanks for getting Elliot and Mary to stay," she whispered "I owe you one, softie."

"I'll remember that in the future."

Shira slowly drifted off, breathing deeply. Diego watched as two human children tiptoed into the clearing, spotted Rowan, gasped, and hurried over to her, before falling asleep fast beside her. Some other creature flew through the air and landed not-so-neatly on a tree branch beside Crash and Eddie, but Diego didn't care enough to find out what it was. Just as the sabre was falling asleep, he saw Manny and Sid struggle into the clearing with, two sabre cubs? He didn't see that coming, and he DEFINITELY didn't expect for the two cubs to see the new sabres, run over to them, and fall asleep as fast as his own cubs had done. As Manny and Sid headed off to their sleeping areas, Diego caught their eye. They all winked at each-other, then went to sleep.

**Well, that's that done. Sorry if I rushed that last bit, but this was supposed to be the reunion chapter (hence the title) so I wanted them all together at the end, except Peaches obviously. Sorry about the lack of Granny and Louis. As I'm a very nice person, I'm gonna to do the right thing and admit I completely forgot all about them. Soz! Anyway, I'll try and include them more but no promises.**

**If you've got any suggestions for, well, anything, just PM me and I'll take them into consideration (Don't worry Dark Fox Tailz, your ideas are coming up in the future!). Please review and I'll try to update ASAP. By the way, if you think there's too many OC's, tell me 1) which characters you'd like to get rid of and 2) whether or not I should cut any. A few of the OC's will be cut, but the ones that are going haven't been introduced yet, so you won't guess which ones! (But you can try if you want!) Oh, and sorry for the mega-long chapter!**

**Thanks for reading! XD**


	10. Old friends

**Hey, I'm back! (finally!) Sorry if this chapter sucks, there's gonna be more action in the next one, I promise! :) BTW, this is gonna be a very DiegoxShira chapter, but there is some other stuff, it's just this whole chapter is Shira's POV (or most of it at least!) so I sort of couldn't help it! Just wanted to update this**** because I haven't in ages and anyway I did promise you guys that I'd update when I got back. XD**

**Probably going to be pretty rubbish, but I guess it's better than nothing. Sorry, there's no big rescue scene (in this chapter, anyway), couldn't think of anything so had to abandon that idea. Sorry again if anyone was looking forward to that, but there is one coming up in the future, but they're rescuing a different character. :)**

**Oh, and xXJuuLXx, I didn't actually read your review until after I'd written this chapter, but I promise your idea will be used because there's another part later in the story that it'll work in even better than this :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age or the characters except for, ah, you know the drill by now.**

Shira's POV

"Shira. Shira! Wake up!"

Diego nudged me with his nose, trying to get me to open my eyes. I murmured "Go away!" but I don't think he heard me, because he carried on trying to get me awake.

"Shira!"

"Ugh! Five more minutes!" I groaned, batting at his face with one paw. He repeated my name over and over, determined to wake me up. At this point I was seriously beyond politeness or subtly, so I sat up in anger and snapped,

"WHAT?!"

As if oblivious to my bad mood, Diego licked the top of my head, his eyes meeting mine.

"Good morning to you too!"

"Did you wake me up for a reason, or just to be annoying?" I asked, snuggling into his chest all the same. He chuckled.

"Technically, being annoying is a reason. But that's not why I woke you up. I know better than to wake you without a seriously good purpose!"

"True. So, what is your seriously good purpose?"

In answer, he stepped to the side and tilted my head with his paw so I could see for myself. I gasped, completely dumbfounded. Manny stood beside Ellie, trunks locked, with Sid on his back. _I could've sworn Manny and Sid weren't here last night..., _I thought. Elliot and Mary stood side by side (well Mary was lying down but she was still next to Elliot), but that wasn't what surprised me. What surprised me was the dark grey cub with pale stripes hiding behind my brother's leg, and the sandy-coloured cub that was nursing from my BFF.

"Uhm... did I sleep for like a year or something? Or am I just denser than Sid?" I asked uncertainly, leaning back into Diego for protection from the weirdness. He chuckled again, and licked my cheek.

"Don't worry, they're not a couple. They both have mates and kids of their own," he explained, accompanied with nods from the apparantly-not-a-couple-but-look-seriously-like-one sabres. I raised an eyebrow skeptically and he chuckled annoyingly for the third time. Mary scooped the sandy-coloured cub into her forelimbs and nuzzled her lovingly.

"Shira, this is my daughter Emily. Emily, this is your Auntie Shira."

Emily's eyes lit up, and she padded over to me eagerly. I gently took her in my own paws, and smiled down at her. She gazed up at me with a look of admiration and anticipation.

"Uhm, hey there. So, you're Emily are you?"

She smirked up at me, taking a deep breath before answering.

"Me don't know, me don't tell, me annoy you to H-E-L-L!" she blurted out, before collapsing into giggles. My eyes widened in surprise, and I peered over the cub's head accusingly at Mary, who simply smiled.

"You told her about that?!"

"Guilty as charged," she answered with a shrug. I sighed and smiled at Emily again, trying to decide whether I had a problem with that or not. Diego licked the back of my neck worriedly, probably wondering what was up. Mary looked worried too.

"Sorry Shira, I didn't think you'd mind..."

"No, no, I don't. It just, took me by surprise, you know." Upon seeing the obvious confusion of the herd, I added "That was like my catchphrase when I was younger."

Diego rolled his eyes at me and nipped my ear playfully.

"Of course it was." he sighed. I didn't feel like working out riddles so I let his comment wash over me without making an impact. My own two cubs suddenly started nursing, shocking me out of my dazed trance. I winced in pain and Mary grinned.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" she laughed cheekily. I pulled a face at her, making her laugh even harder.

"So, this is Emily, so who's that little guy over there?" I asked, gesturing to the cub behind my brother.

"Oh, this is my son Max," said Elliot, nudging the cub forward with his nose "Max, this is your Auntie Shira."

I waved at the frightened male, mentally wondering how this timid little cub could be my fierce brother's offspring. Emily slid out of my paws and walked confidently over to Max. She whispered something in his ear, which caused them both to start laughing. I decided that if Emily was anything like her mother we didn't want to know what she'd said. I giggled as the two cubs rolled in the dirt.

"So I take it this is why you woke me up then?" I said to Diego, who shook his head.

"Actually no, I woke you up so you could help us."

I waited for a further explaination but, as I didn't get one, assumed that was all I was gonna get.

"YEE-HAW!" yelled a voice, and something landed on my head hard.

"What the-"

Everybody started laughing at me as I tried to bat away whatever had just landed on me. Diego smiled at plucked whatever it was off my head. I looked up at him gratefully.

"Thanks."

But he didn't do what I would've done - thrown whatever it was off into the forest. Instead he held it right in front of my face for me to see.

"Shira," he said, his voice soft all of a sudden, as if not to startle me "This is my old friend Buck. Buck, this is Shira."

The weasel - now introduced to me as 'Buck' - waved frantically at me, with a knowing smile on his face.

"Ya got yourself quite a catch their, mate!" he whispered loudly to me, but everybody heard "Must've taken ya years to get all the way round to this part of the world, but I'm sure it was worth it to meet up - and mate with - old Diego here!"

I now understand why Diego held onto Buck, because I instantly lunged for the floppy weasel. Diego swiftly lifted the weasel away from me, and hugged me lovingly.

"Don't worry Shira sweetie, Buck's always like that," he murmured into my fur, as he snuggled into me, his lips against my neck "It's worth putting up with it to be his friend, honest."

"Fine," I sighed, resting my head on his "So, what do I need to help with?"

"We need your help with a rescue plan," Manny said, speaking up finally.

"A rescue plan? Who are we rescuing? Hey, where's-" I suddenly realised that Peaches was missing "Oh, right."

"Yeah..." sighed Diego, giving me a lick behind the ears "So, any ideas?"

"Why're you asking me?" I wondered aloud, snuggling him kindly.

"Because, uhm... we figured that you might, er... be good at, that sort of, stuff..." Diego tried to explain. Manny sighed.

"We thought you would probably be good at plans because you were a pirate," he told me, being completely honest. Diego tensed beside me, and everyone else seemed awkward all of a sudden.

"Oh, okay," I shrugged carelessly "Good theory. I think I might know a way we can rescue her."

"That's it?" Diego tilted his head to one side "Good theory? You're not gonna freak out?"

"No, why woud I?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Oh well I just thought… nothing."

I actually really wanted to laugh then, not at the fact they thought I'd freak, but at how Diego can almost never say the right thing at the right time to the right person. Elliot's like that, maybe it's a male sabre thing or something like that. Louis burrowed up to us, somehow managing to crash into several rocks in the space of a minute.

"Hey Weiner!" Crash and Eddie greeted him, but if he even heard them he didn't show it.

"Louis? What's wrong?" I asked, trying my best to use the same tone Peaches always uses when she speaks to him.

"Have any of you seen - LEANNE!" he exclaimed suddenly, rushing towards Mary.

"What?" I wondered aloud. Diego tilted my head so that I could see the little molehog on Mary's head. Okay, how did I forget about her?! Louis wrapped his arms around the little child, hugging her close.

"Lee-Lee, where were you?! I've been worried sick! Everyone has!" Louis was actually crying as he held little Leanne.

"I was with my new friends, Elliot and Marisol - oh sorry, Mary," explained Leanne "Wait a second, you were worried? Was Loretta?"

"Of course she was, she's your sister!" sobbed Louis "Oh Lee, we've missed you so, so much!"

"Did Mom and Dad?"

"Definitely! Like I said, everyone has!"

"Wow," breathed Leanne. Mary smirked.

"See? We told you that you weren't useless!" she commented smugly. Leanne boldly stuck her tongue out at Mary, which made me laugh for some reason.

"Alright, alright," interrupted Manny "Lovely little reunion, but we need to focus!"

"Manny's right," agreed Ellie "We're still missing Peaches and we need to help her!"

"Where is Peaches?" asked Louis, who hadn't been around to find out.

"Dibs not telling him!" shouted Carmen, raising one paw in the air. Aztec, Max and Emily copied her, and Manny and Ellie were obviously in too much of an emotional state to explain.

"Don't ask us!" exclaimed Crash and Eddie, shaking their heads. Buck nodded his agreement. Rowan, Ravi and Zuri all looked away in random directions, making it clear they weren't explaining.

"I can't explain stuff!" said Sid, shrugging his shoulders.

"PRECIOUS!" yelled Granny, oblivious to the situation. Mary and Elliot obviously weren't explaining, they made that pretty clear just using their faces. That basically left me and Diego. He glanced down at me hopefully, but I shook my head.

"Don't look at me!" I stated, getting comfortable for his fail of an explaination.

"Uhm, well... er, Manny? Buck? Someone?"

See, I told you it was a fail. I rolled my eyes at him and rubbed my head against his neck. He grew that big, goofy smile on his face and forgot all about the explaination, as did everyone else for several seconds. They were all too busy going "Aww!" and making us blush. Just then, there was a crashing sound, followed by human attack cries.

"Oh no," said Zuri, hiding behind Rowan.

"Dad's coming!" cried Ravi, hugging his sister tight.

"Okay, no-one panic!" declared Rowan pointlessly. Obviously everyone started panicking! Hunters were coming towards us, and most likely they had Peaches tied up somewhere and were hurting her!

"Help!" shouted a very familiar voice, and it sounded like she was quite close. Well, I did say 'most likely', not definitely!

Normal POV

Peaches hurtled into the clearing, screaming.

"PEACHES!" cheered everyone excitedly, glad she was okay.

"What are ya doing, mate?" asked Buck curiously, head tilted to one side.

"Running and screaming!" answered Peaches, hiding behind Manny fearfully. Roshan, Dormen, Redser and Hanna all crashed through the trees, weapons at the ready. Out of instinct, Shira growled and pounced on Roshan, pressing her paw down on his neck.

"No! Shira, don't!" exclaimed Rowan frantically.

"Aw!" complained Shira, but after catching Rowan's gaze, added "Okay, okay. Fine!"

She stepped off of Roshan and padded back to her mate and cubs casually, as if nothing had happened. She didn't lie down though, she wasn't that relaxed. Seeing she was afraid, Diego got up off the ground and wrapped one of his front legs around her, calming her down, and also holding her back. Roshan's eyes widened with recognition as he spotted Manny, Diego and Sid. Manny gasped, realising who it was.

"...You?" he breathed, shocked.

"Manfred?" asked Roshan, to which Manny nodded "Sid? Diego?"

"Pinky?" the two asked in unison. Shira looked at Ellie for a moment, but found that she had no idea either. Aztec, ever fearless, boldly stepped up to Roshan and looked him in the eye.

"Who are you?" he demanded "And how do you know Daddy?"

"Daddy?" repeated Roshan with shock. Diego nodded, and licked Shira's head. That was when Roshan and Dormen properly realised who she was.

"Oops," sighed Roshan, remembering what Kunta had done to the white tigress. Dormen, clueless as usual, started laughing.

"Hey Roshan, it's that sabre we were trying to kill!"

"WHAT?!" exploded Diego, pulling Shira close.

"You tried to kill Mommy?" shrieked Carmen and Aztec at the same time. Shira turned to Rowan.

"Now can I kill him?"

"No-one is killing anybody!" said Rowan firmly, before glaring at her husband "No matter how much they deserve it!"

"Rowan? Oh, I've been so worried!" exclaimed Roshan, running up to her and hugging her "Oh, and little Kisi! I've missed you two!"

"And I missed you," Rowan smiled at him "So, where are the others?"

"Not sure," answered Roshan "The mammoth broke free somehow, and me and Dormen found her when we were lost in the forest thanks to those two," he pointed at Mary and Elliot, who smiled and waved "So we chased it. They're probably looking for the mammoth too."

"Dad, how do you know him?" asked Peaches, frightened. Manny didn't hear her, he was too busy glaring at Roshan.

"In my defense I didn't it was your child, Manfred!"

"Ha, Manfred," giggled Shira, who hadn't known Manny's full name. He rolled his eyes.

"Diego would you please control your wife while I talk to, uhm... what was your name again?"

"Roshan."

"Thanks. Anyway, keep her quiet, Diego! So, as I was saying, 'it' is a she, Roshan. She's called Peaches, and this is her mother, Ellie. I can see you've met Shira, and those two are her and Diego's kids - Carmen and Aztec. That's Weiner-"

"Louis!" interrupted Peaches.

"Fine, _Louis _and his sister Leanne. She's Granny and they're Ellie's adoptive brothers Crash and Eddie, and he's Buck. Those two are Mary and Elliot, Shira's brother and best friend, and these are Emily and Max. That's about everybody!"

"Woah, you guys have made some friends since I last saw you," commented Roshan.

"So have you," pointed out Sid, gesturing to Rowan, Dormen and the others.

"I guess you're right," Roshan paused and just stared at his three oldest friends "I always did wonder how you three turned out. Now I can see it all worked out perfectly."

"Same to you," replied Manny, patting Kisi on the head with his trunk. Roshan nodded, but he seemed distracted. He stared at Shira's healing wound, immense guilt flooding his system. Shira knew he was staring at her, and it made her uncomfortable.

"Why are you staring at me?!" she demanded, losing her temper. Diego nuzzled her gently, trying to relax her. It definitely worked, as she rested her head against his shoulder and purred softly.

"I was just thinking... I am really sorry about the whole spear thing," apologised Roshan.

"Did you throw it?" asked Diego, squeezing Shira tight.

"Well, no but-"

"Then it's not your fault. End of."

"Thank-you Diego. But Kunta-"

"Our Dad!" interrupted Zuri, to which Roshan rolled his eyes.

"Their dad will be coming soon! He's looking for Peaches, and if he sees Shira he will kill her there and then."

"Why?" asked Elliot, fearing his sister's safety.

"Because he almost killed her with the spear, so now he'll see it as an unfinished job."

"Well, we have to stop him!" declared Manny.

"Duh!" said Peaches and Shira at the same time. Manny sighed.

"Diego-"

"I know, I know! Control my wife!"

"Right then! Let's make a plan!" Ellie smiled at the group, hoping to lift their spirits a little. No such luck.

**And that's the end of my incredibly over-due update! Sorry it's so short, I've had massive writer's block for this and I'm still getting over it at the moment. This story will get better in a chapter or two though, because I've got it all worked out from there :) Will update as soon as poss but do have a couple of other multi-chaps to work on, but promise to try! :)**

**Please read and review! XD**


	11. Target in Sight

**I know, this is long, long over-due. But I worked part of it out, and I'm hoping to get back on a roll with this. Or at least back to regular updates. Besides, 'Carly' has been messing me around again, so I have more time today. BTW, this story might end earlier then I planned, just because I'm running low on ideas at the moment. And I know a few of you were wondering how Carmen and Aztec were still young enough to nurse, well the answer to that is they're nearly at the end of that stage and are currently being weaned away from it.**

**I warn you in advance, this chapter is short. Very, very short. I'm actually ashamed of it's size.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ice Age, or the characters. You should know by now who I own, and yet another OC comes into this chapter, so you guys finally meet Gwen! :)**

Diego, Marisol and Elliot were talking a walk, getting to know each-other a bit more, while the cubs, Zuri and Ravi played with Crash, Eddie and Buck under Rowan's careful eye. Roshan refused to leave her side, as he had been so worried about his wife and daughter, and Manny and Sid both wanted to catch up on Roshan's life. Ellie, as fascinated by the story of Manny, Sid and Diego had returned Roshan to his tribe as her daughter and her new sister-in-law, had stayed to listen with Peaches and Shira. Granny was still sleeping soundly in the tree, and Dormen was taking Redser and Hanna for a walk.

"-so it was around then that I saw you, Shira, and well," Roshan had to chose his words carefully here "I decided that a pelt so beautiful was to die for."

Shira pouted. "Yeah, I almost did die!"

"Sorry, that was a bad choice of words," apologised Roshan hurriedly, patting Shira's head "What I meant was, Kunta was willing to die for it. And, I know I said this before but, I am very sorry for that stabbing-you-with-a-spear incident, Miss Shira."

"No problem," she replied "But please don't call me 'Miss', it makes me feel old." She shuddered. Ellie laughed.

"You think that makes you feel old? Wait until your kids start talking about boyfriends! Now _that _makes you feel old!" she laughed again as Peaches blushed. Roshan chuckled and ruffled Shira's fur again.

"Don't worry, you don't look old in the slightest. Either of you," he grinned at Ellie. Everyone was getting more used to Roshan now, but Louis and Leanne had headed home, to see Loretta again, who was worried about her sister.

* * *

Louis climbed through the entrance to the family burrow, pulling Leanne by the arm. He swept her long hair out of her eyes with one paw, so she could see where she was going.

"Hey guys!" he called, upon entering the family room "Look who I found!"

Leanne blushed a deep red as both her parents embraced her, gushing about how worried they were and how she should never leave without their permission ever again. Once her parents were done with the hug-fest, Leanne turned to search for her sister. Loretta was nowhere to be seen, but faint crying could be heard from the girls' room. While her parents fussed over Louis, thanking him over and over for bringing Leanne home, she snuck through to find Loretta in a heap on her bed, sobbing pityfully.

"Oh Lorrie, what's wrong?" fretted Leanne, kneeling beside her sister and hugging her gently.

"L-Leanne?" asked Loretta faintly, sitting up and seeing her sister "Oh, Lee-Lee, you're okay! I was so worried about you!"

Loretta threw her arms around Leanne, squeezing her tight and crying uncontrollably into her shoulder. Loretta's hair was in a pixie-cut, so it didn't fall in her face like Leanne's did., but it was sticking up wildly because of the half hour she'd spent sobbing into her leaf pillow. Leanne began to cry too, because she was so happy that her sister finally cared.

Louis and their parents filed into the room, turning the sisterly hug into a family hug. Leanne had never felt more loved in her entire life than she did at that moment. Everything seemed right.

* * *

Marisol stood inbetween the two males, keeping conversation going and preventing any possible fights that could occur. She knew who Diego was, she had once been in his pack, but she kicked out for being friends with Shira and Elliot. Diego had never had much to do with the white sabres, but had been best friends with Mary within the pack. Thing is, he just hadn't figured all that out yet.

"So, Diego," Mary grinned "How long have you been with Shira?"

Diego blushed. "Oh, uhm... almost a year now, but we've only recently had Carmen and Aztec. Around five months ago, probably closer to six now."

Mary smiled. "Wow, you guys are really serious! That's great!"

"Y'know Diego, I'm glad my little sister found someone as good as you," commented Elliot. Diego smiled at him.

"Thanks, that really means a lot."

"Typical," sighed Mary, rolling her eyes playfully "You always were a suck-up."

"Huh?" asked Diego, before he recognised her "Woah, Mary? Is that really you?! Amazing! I missed you so much!"

Gently, Diego pounced and pinned her. She laughed. "Well, you finally realised."

"What's going on?" Elliot looked confused. Diego and Mary both smiled.

"Y'see, when I was younger, Diego used to be part of my old pack," explained Mary.

"You know, after you left, that was the start of Soto's break-down," Diego informed her. Now Mary was the one who was confused.

"What do you mean 'break-down'? And why? Soto kicked _me _out!"

Suddenly, a flash of white leapt at Diego, knocked him off Mary and pinned her down, much like Elliot had when he was first reunited with Shira. Diego thought at first that the figure was Shira, as she looked so much like her, but dismissed that thought when he noticed the lack of earrings, and the slightly different stripe pattern.

"What the-"

"Nobody attacks our Mary!" hissed the unknown sabre.

"Gwen, calm down!" fretted Mary, gently pushing the sabre off of Diego.

"Mom, relax!" Elliot licked the sabre now known as Gwen on the cheek. Diego was surprised; was this Shira's mother?

"Excuse me, ma'am," Gwen looked in Diego's direction "I'm assuming you're Elliot and Shira's mother?"

Gwen nodded. "Yes, and you are?"

"Name's Diego friend. I'm Shira's mate," he braced for the attack that he thought would come.

"Mate?!" exclaimed Gwen "Oh, I'm so happy for her! Anyway, where is she?"

Elliot smiled. "C'mon Mom, we'll take you to her. We have a lot to talk about."

And then, the four sabres walked back to the herd.

* * *

In the nearby bushes, yet another sabretooth tiger was watching the group. His eyes narrowed, as he recognised Gwen, Elliot and Mary, whom he had a certain past with. He didn't know Diego, but he heard the part about Shira's mate so he knew he needed to get revenge on him too.

"Game on," he hissed "Target in sight."

With that, he followed them back to the herd, intending to find out where they lived, so they would know where to attack when the final strike came.

**So, I know this was stupidly short, but this was mostly introducing Gwen and letting you guys know someone's watching the herd. I know this chapter was lame, and pretty stupid, but I'm running low on ideas for this story. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon, but no promises guys. Anyway, thanks for reading this suckish chapter and please review!**


End file.
